I was thinking about writing a post about Christmas, but I decided otherwise. Then the weekend paper had an editorial column that I read, which reflected much of my own thoughts! It was almost as if he put into words what I was thinking. Reminds me of one of the meanings I wrote about the word Amen in an earlier post. ("That's my voice"...for those that don't want to search for it)
It so happened that someone sent a copy of it to me in my email, so I decided that I would include it here for anyone else to consider as well. And a belated Merry Christmas to you all.........
What If It's True? - By Cal Thomas
Suppose what some call the "Christmas story" is true -- all of it, from the angels, to the shepherds, to the virgin birth, to God taking on human flesh. By this, I don't mean to suggest it is true only for those who believe it to be true, but what if it is objectively true, no matter what the deniers say? What difference would it make? Should it make any difference?
The narrative and the quotations written by the physician named Luke and by John, the closest disciple of Jesus of Nazareth, are unique and exclusive. The genealogical line of Jesus compiled by Matthew the tax collector is impressive and compelling. The words spoken by Jesus and recorded by these men are phenomenal. They expose the inner darkness of Man, offering a roadmap out, while also revealing the light of God, offering directions into His presence.
The information provided by witnesses to these events are either true, or not. The claims leave no room for middle ground, despite what some "theologians" claim. If they are not true, one must conclude "the greatest story ever told" was the result of the greatest conspiracy in history from which not a single "conspirator" later recanted. The One who spoke such heartwarming words, as C.S. Lewis has noted, was either a liar, a fool, or he told the truth. There are no other options.
The "conspiracy" would have to have stretched over thousands of years, from the time of the Prophets to the modern era when millions continue to claim their lives have been transformed by this carpenter with no formal training, no college degree and no influence with the reigning religious and secular authorities of His day.
Among other things skeptics have to contend with is why would so many people claim the story is true, including what would occur at the end of Jesus' life on Earth, when they had nothing to gain in this life by promoting a lie? In fact, they invited persecution from the religious authorities, along with imprisonment and death from the Roman rulers, who treated any perceived or actual challenge to Caesar as a capital offense.
Of course the story is fantastic. But who would want to follow a God that can be defined and understood by human logic? Such a God would not be worth knowing because He would be created in our image.
I suspect even those who don't believe the story secretly wish it were true. Who, or what else, offers the hope, cleansing and purpose for this life -- as well as eternal life -- like that presented by this child-man-God? In an age when love means lust and is too often conditional, this story offers a love that is personal, redemptive and unconditional. Christmas is the great story of God becoming human in order that humans might dwell with Him. It is about the helper helping those who cannot help themselves no matter how hard they try.
It is a gift better than anything the fictional Santa Claus could give. And it is a gift that keeps on giving into eternity, never losing its value, unlike stock portfolios.
Come on, what have you got to lose -- only everything -- by considering this greatest of all stories? Maybe you believed the story as a child, but with maturity came skepticism and later unbelief. Try reading it again as an adult. It truly is the ultimate gift and it has your (and my) name on it. It fits all who try it on and has the additional benefit of having been paid for by someone else. This gift never wears out. Once accepted, it so satisfies that people rarely return it. For what could it be exchanged?
Can anyone name a better gift that has produced more positive and welcome results around the world for more than 2,000 years?
Monday, December 27, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Who Then Can Be Saved?
MK 10:27 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."
In previous posts I have talked about verses in the bible that are misunderstood, misquoted, taken out of context, and used incorrectly to make it say something that it does not say... this is one more to add to the list of those quotes.
Now, I am sure that many of the times this verse is quoted incorrectly, it is still pretty harmless in its application, since we know that God is Omnipotent, meaning all powerful, and that NOTHING IS impossible with God. I am not sure however, that most people will not contradict that very statement if what they are presented with is the facts layed out with the context of the passage of Scripture from which the verse is taken. What is the context of the passage? Before you read on.... ask yourself to see if you know.
I will quote the passage in it's entirety to keep you from having to look it up elsewhere so we can check the context. This passage is taken from the Gospel of Mark:
10:15 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
10:16 And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.
10:17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
10:18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone.
10:19 You know the commandments: `Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.' "
10:20 "Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."
10:21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
10:22 At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
10:23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"
10:24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it isn to enter the kingdom of God!
10:25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
10:26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?"
10:27 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."
As you can see in verse 15, Jesus was talking about receiving the kingdom of God like a child, and not just a child, but a little child. He said I tell you the truth! Unless you receive the kingdom of God like a little child you will never enter it. First let me stop here at least to prevent anyone from thinking that Jesus is talking about "going to heaven"! He did NOT say that you would not go to heaven, He said you would not enter the Kingdom of God! Okay, so what is the Kingdom of God then if it is not heaven? Romans 14:17 "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Ah, see why context is important? The Kingdom of God is not a place, but a type of life! You cannot enter into that type of living full of peace and Joy in the Holy Spirit unless you become as trusting, and reliant on God to supply all of your needs as a little child would to a parent.
Okay, that being said, lets go on to see what's next, because the next verses are connected since Jesus often will teach something, and then provide the experience to drive home His point! As He went on His way, a man ran up to Him, fell on his knees, called Him good teacher, and asked what he needed to do to inherit eternal life? Notice first that the man did not ask what he needed to do to get to heaven! And yet Jesus answers strangely by asking why is the man calling Him good since God is only good.
Now some have used this verse to try to say that it proves Jesus was not Divine, however this is not the case simply because Jesus was questioning the motives of the person calling him good if he did not believe Jesus was the Messiah! In other words, Jesus was saying, why are YOU calling me good?
Next Jesus replied that the man knew the Commandments and He named some of them. And let me pause here again to say that Jesus did not tell him that by obeying the Commandments that he would inherit eternal life! We all know that eternal life is NOT gained by obeying the Law! Not then. Not now. But Jesus was about to show him the futility of his efforts!
Next, the man says that he has obeyed all of these since he was a boy; no doubt hoping that it was enough to qualify him for salvation, and there is no reason to doubt his sincerity since we read that "Jesus looked at him and loved him." I think the greatest gems in Scripture are found in verses like this one that are inserted almost without notice by the reader; instead we skip past it to find out what Jesus told him; that the man lacked ONE thing. Do you know what the one thing is that the man lacked? The answer is hidden in what Jesus told him to do next, and the reason why the man did not.
It is not until this point that we are told that the man was very rich. Jesus told him to sell everything he had and to give away the money to the poor and then follow Him, but the man walked away sad because he had great wealth, but what did he lack? The fact is that the man could have been poor and still lacked the same thing. The man could have been wealthy and not lacked anything. The difference being that his wealth is what highlighted what he lacked.
I mentioned in an earlier post that I intended in my youth to become a professional magician. I also said that I had to earn a living before I could make a living doing magic, since I left home at an early age. It was when I was around 18 that I became a Christian, and shortly after that I learned about the church's disapproval of my doing magic! It was almost as if God had removed the desire within me so that I would be willing to give up doing magic, in order to follow Him! I sold most of the magic that I had, and just kept what I could not sell. It was not until some time later that I realized I did not have to give up magic after all to be a Christian! But what it did mean for me was that I had to be willing to give it up in order to follow Jesus. Once I was willing to give it up, it was not neccessary any longer to do so.
The fact is that the rich man did not have to sell all of his possessions to follow Jesus.... he just had to be willing to do so. Don't you see that it is the motives of our heart that is more important rather than the outward actions. The outward actions of the rich man was that he tried to obey the Commandments from a heart motivated by selfishness. Do you remember what Jesus said the two greatest commandments were? They both were fulfilled by love. The second was to love your neighbor as yourself. This man could not. This is what he lacked. It is not riches that held him back, it was selfishness. I am convinced that if the man was willing to do as Jesus asked, then he would not have had to give away anything. Just get your heart right.
Compare this story with the story of Zacchaeus from Luke 19:1-10. He also was rich, but immediately was willing to give up it all to make things right. Money is not the root of all evil as some suppose. The LOVE of money is.
Now, the amazement of the disciples came from the fact that their thinking is not much different than ours even now, which is that we consider material blessings as a sign of approval from God. Oh how we look on the outside, but God judges the heart. It is because of this that the disciples asked "Who then can be saved?" It is then that Jesus said that with man this is impossible! Man cannot save himself! No man can save himself. But with God, all things are possible! This is the verse that is so often quoted to apply to everything but to what Jesus was saying.
Jesus was answering the disciples question, Who then can be saved?! With God, all things are possible! There is NO limit as to who can be saved. Even though the rich man walked away that day, God was not finished with him. He may have walked away that day sad because his riches meant more to him than following Jesus, but one thing is for sure he did not end up in a firey torment for eternity as some suppose, but is included in the ALL of the verse from I Cor. 15:22 "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." The same all in Adam that die is the same all in Christ that are made alive! The very next verse explains it further.. "But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming."
Perhaps next time when you hear the verse quoted that nothing is impossible with God, then you will also consider that answer in response to the question... Who Then Can Be Saved?
Perspective
When I woke up this morning, the idea for this post came into my thoughts even the title, which is why I think I am purposed to write this. Since I waited until near the end of the day, this might be a shorter post than usual for me, but who knows.... I just got started. :-)
There were also a couple of verses that came to mind as well, and so I will copy them both here now. The first is from Isaiah 55:8-9 "For my thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
The second verse is from Revelation 11:12a "And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither."
In Hebrews God is speaking and says that His thoughts and His ways are so much higher than ours. As high as the heavens above the earth! So, we must ask our self why does He say that? What is He trying to prove? Is there any question in the mind of sane men that God's thoughts and ways are not higher than ours? I think He has a greater motivation instead. I think that God is telling us that, because it is an invitation to join Him. It is a call to crawl out of the lower realm, and to.... in the words of Revelation "Come up hither." Come UP higher, more correctly, and it is not talking about altitude, but rather attitude. Up rather than down. Higher rather than lower. And while it is not talking about altitude, at the same time our comparison of altitude can be made to help us get a clearer understanding; a clearer perspective.
Yesterday, I made my first dual cross country flight. It is a little bit of a misnomer, since we did not fly "across" the country, but rather about a 50 mile dog leg to another airport. The method I used to get there is what is called pilotage and dead reckoning. Mostly pilotage, which involves looking at a special pilot's map called a sectional which gives certain land marks that can be recognised from the air, to determine where you are in relation to where you are going. Dead reckoning is a term that uses direction speed and time to determine where you should be based on those factors.
I can make this comparison, because I am already familiar with the journey from the ground level. I drive a truck for a living and I have driven all around the area that I was to fly over. We even flew over the area where I live, and the building where I work, so I know my way around on the ground. I know the roads and the signs. From the air it is a little different perspective. I see the tops of buildings instead of the signs on the front. I see the tops of the cars on the tops of the roads, and I am not limited by the bend in the road to see what is up ahead from the aerial viewpoint. On a clear day I can see for miles. And the other fact is that the higher I go, the further ahead I can see, and the bigger the picture of what lies ahead, before anyone on the ground ever gets there. It is a different perspective.
Spiritually the same thing applies. So often our view is limited by our earthly viewpoint. We can't see what is up ahead. We can only imagine, and usually our imagination will steer us in the wrong direction. Our imagination will look at the present circumstance and judge God based on such short sighted information. The bend in the road concerns us because we don't know what is beyond where we can see. It is similar to the story told by J Preston Eby where he uses a parade as an example, with a man sitting on his little chair in front of a hardware store. On the ground you watch the parade as it goes by. On top of the store you can see the parade from beginning to end.
Such short sightedness reminds me of the story of the Asian family that were poor dirt farmers during a time of war. They barely made a living trying to farm. One day they were given a horse, and they blessed God for the gift that was given them; their son could ride the horse and use it for farming. Then before long, their son was thrown off the horse and broke his leg and could not work the farm. They cursed the day they got that horse that caused such tragedy to their family. Soon after, the soldiers came in the middle of the night to drag their son away to fight in the army, but he could not go because of his broken leg, and then the family blessed God for all that happened! Short sighted perspective.
Now, for anyone whomight try to take a literal approach to the quoted verse in Isaiah would have to explain how a thought is literally higher in altitude than another thought. You can use a literal meaning of the heavens above the earth in the Scripture verse I quoted, or you can also consider that it compares to a realm of existence. There is a plant kingdom, and an animal kingdom, and an earthly kingdom, and a heavenly kingdom. It is a comparison of existence.
There is the matter of the verse that I am using as a subtitle to this blog is "And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." 1 Corinthians 15:49 The ONLY qualification to bear the image of the heavenly is to have borne the image of the earthly. (more about that another time.)
The fact is that you can ascend in your thinking. You can ascend in your understanding. You can ascend in your Spiritual maturity, all without leaving Terra firma. Are we so stubborn so as to hang on to our preconceived notions about God, no matter how well intentioned the person was who taught us? Or are we willing to follow God where ever He leads? Can we listen to the still small voice that calls us? Will we follow when He says "This is the way, walk ye in it."? The funny thing is that quote is proceeded by the words "You shall hear a voice behind you saying..." The reason why I bring it up is that it occurred to me that if you hear a voice behind you, it might mean you went on ahead without the guide leading, and you have to go back to where you veered off the path. THIS is the way... not that way.
I guess I was wrong about this being a short post. I did want to use these thoughts to further add to my account of the journey I have been on as I intended. I have already written about some of the circumstances that lead to my spiritual awakening, and even to an empowerment by the spirit, what the Pentecostals refer to as the Gift of the Holy Spirit. The only difference is that I do not have what is referred to as the evidence of speaking in tongues. While I do support their doctrine of the gifts of the Spirit, I do not support their doctrine that speaking in tongues is the only initial evidence. The details of which is a whole other post.
So, I did go to a Pentecostal church for a number of years. I even felt a calling to study for the ministry, and began taking a ministerial correspondence course. Even after several years, I made it through 10 of the 20 subjects. In the mean time I did get to speak at some nursing homes, and bible studies. My intention was always to prepare, and let God be responsible for the outcome. That still holds true today. I studied what I was taught and mostly believed what they said as do most believers, after all, they knew the truth right?
Well, I met a friend, who in the course of time of knowing him, I discovered a different Theological understanding of interpreting Scripture. I later found out from him it is sometimes called Reformed Theology, or Calvinism. What I did not know till then was that there were two major Theological differences in Protestant churches, along with "sub sections" and variations so to speak. There is what is called Arminism, and there is Calvinism. Many evangelical churches teach an Arminian theology, and some Baptist and the like teach from a Calvinistic theology. It was because of my learning the differences between those two doctrines, that I stopped believing in Arminism theology, and began to study Calvinism.
It is at this point where I will close this post by adding that it is my belief, that God was leading me each step of the way, and using the influence of others to help steer the direction of the path He placed me on. Each step forward was also a step higher. And sometimes what felt like running into a wall, turned out to be a riser. A riser being that vertical part of the staircase. A step and a riser. A step and a riser. Each level taking you higher, thus giving you a different Perspective.
As these posts continue, I will explore further what the differences are between these two doctrines, and why I switched, but also why I think both doctrines fall short of the Truth! Lets go higher and get a different Perspective.
There were also a couple of verses that came to mind as well, and so I will copy them both here now. The first is from Isaiah 55:8-9 "For my thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
The second verse is from Revelation 11:12a "And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither."
In Hebrews God is speaking and says that His thoughts and His ways are so much higher than ours. As high as the heavens above the earth! So, we must ask our self why does He say that? What is He trying to prove? Is there any question in the mind of sane men that God's thoughts and ways are not higher than ours? I think He has a greater motivation instead. I think that God is telling us that, because it is an invitation to join Him. It is a call to crawl out of the lower realm, and to.... in the words of Revelation "Come up hither." Come UP higher, more correctly, and it is not talking about altitude, but rather attitude. Up rather than down. Higher rather than lower. And while it is not talking about altitude, at the same time our comparison of altitude can be made to help us get a clearer understanding; a clearer perspective.
Yesterday, I made my first dual cross country flight. It is a little bit of a misnomer, since we did not fly "across" the country, but rather about a 50 mile dog leg to another airport. The method I used to get there is what is called pilotage and dead reckoning. Mostly pilotage, which involves looking at a special pilot's map called a sectional which gives certain land marks that can be recognised from the air, to determine where you are in relation to where you are going. Dead reckoning is a term that uses direction speed and time to determine where you should be based on those factors.
I can make this comparison, because I am already familiar with the journey from the ground level. I drive a truck for a living and I have driven all around the area that I was to fly over. We even flew over the area where I live, and the building where I work, so I know my way around on the ground. I know the roads and the signs. From the air it is a little different perspective. I see the tops of buildings instead of the signs on the front. I see the tops of the cars on the tops of the roads, and I am not limited by the bend in the road to see what is up ahead from the aerial viewpoint. On a clear day I can see for miles. And the other fact is that the higher I go, the further ahead I can see, and the bigger the picture of what lies ahead, before anyone on the ground ever gets there. It is a different perspective.
Spiritually the same thing applies. So often our view is limited by our earthly viewpoint. We can't see what is up ahead. We can only imagine, and usually our imagination will steer us in the wrong direction. Our imagination will look at the present circumstance and judge God based on such short sighted information. The bend in the road concerns us because we don't know what is beyond where we can see. It is similar to the story told by J Preston Eby where he uses a parade as an example, with a man sitting on his little chair in front of a hardware store. On the ground you watch the parade as it goes by. On top of the store you can see the parade from beginning to end.
Such short sightedness reminds me of the story of the Asian family that were poor dirt farmers during a time of war. They barely made a living trying to farm. One day they were given a horse, and they blessed God for the gift that was given them; their son could ride the horse and use it for farming. Then before long, their son was thrown off the horse and broke his leg and could not work the farm. They cursed the day they got that horse that caused such tragedy to their family. Soon after, the soldiers came in the middle of the night to drag their son away to fight in the army, but he could not go because of his broken leg, and then the family blessed God for all that happened! Short sighted perspective.
Now, for anyone whomight try to take a literal approach to the quoted verse in Isaiah would have to explain how a thought is literally higher in altitude than another thought. You can use a literal meaning of the heavens above the earth in the Scripture verse I quoted, or you can also consider that it compares to a realm of existence. There is a plant kingdom, and an animal kingdom, and an earthly kingdom, and a heavenly kingdom. It is a comparison of existence.
There is the matter of the verse that I am using as a subtitle to this blog is "And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." 1 Corinthians 15:49 The ONLY qualification to bear the image of the heavenly is to have borne the image of the earthly. (more about that another time.)
The fact is that you can ascend in your thinking. You can ascend in your understanding. You can ascend in your Spiritual maturity, all without leaving Terra firma. Are we so stubborn so as to hang on to our preconceived notions about God, no matter how well intentioned the person was who taught us? Or are we willing to follow God where ever He leads? Can we listen to the still small voice that calls us? Will we follow when He says "This is the way, walk ye in it."? The funny thing is that quote is proceeded by the words "You shall hear a voice behind you saying..." The reason why I bring it up is that it occurred to me that if you hear a voice behind you, it might mean you went on ahead without the guide leading, and you have to go back to where you veered off the path. THIS is the way... not that way.
I guess I was wrong about this being a short post. I did want to use these thoughts to further add to my account of the journey I have been on as I intended. I have already written about some of the circumstances that lead to my spiritual awakening, and even to an empowerment by the spirit, what the Pentecostals refer to as the Gift of the Holy Spirit. The only difference is that I do not have what is referred to as the evidence of speaking in tongues. While I do support their doctrine of the gifts of the Spirit, I do not support their doctrine that speaking in tongues is the only initial evidence. The details of which is a whole other post.
So, I did go to a Pentecostal church for a number of years. I even felt a calling to study for the ministry, and began taking a ministerial correspondence course. Even after several years, I made it through 10 of the 20 subjects. In the mean time I did get to speak at some nursing homes, and bible studies. My intention was always to prepare, and let God be responsible for the outcome. That still holds true today. I studied what I was taught and mostly believed what they said as do most believers, after all, they knew the truth right?
Well, I met a friend, who in the course of time of knowing him, I discovered a different Theological understanding of interpreting Scripture. I later found out from him it is sometimes called Reformed Theology, or Calvinism. What I did not know till then was that there were two major Theological differences in Protestant churches, along with "sub sections" and variations so to speak. There is what is called Arminism, and there is Calvinism. Many evangelical churches teach an Arminian theology, and some Baptist and the like teach from a Calvinistic theology. It was because of my learning the differences between those two doctrines, that I stopped believing in Arminism theology, and began to study Calvinism.
It is at this point where I will close this post by adding that it is my belief, that God was leading me each step of the way, and using the influence of others to help steer the direction of the path He placed me on. Each step forward was also a step higher. And sometimes what felt like running into a wall, turned out to be a riser. A riser being that vertical part of the staircase. A step and a riser. A step and a riser. Each level taking you higher, thus giving you a different Perspective.
As these posts continue, I will explore further what the differences are between these two doctrines, and why I switched, but also why I think both doctrines fall short of the Truth! Lets go higher and get a different Perspective.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Do You See What I See?
There are countless numbers of optical illusions. This one pictured here is one of the more well known. Depending on what you focus your attention on will determine if you see a fancy vase, or profiles of two people facing each other. The profiles are in the black, and the vase is in the white.
Part of the reason optical illusions work is because we don't "see" with our eyes, we "see" with our brain! Our eyes form the image into electrical impulses, but our brain interprets the impulses into the image that we are seeing. Depending on all the factors that influence our brain, will largely determine how our brain interprets that image.
The most amazing optical illusions I have ever seen are the ones that are the 3D pictures. At first glance you see a brightly colored pattern on the paper, then you can train your eyes to see a three dimensional depth, and then you can pick out shapes and objects hidden within the pattern! I have a book that does the same thing only in FIVE dimensions!
Funny thing is that believe it or not, the Bible can be a lot like an optical illusion! Remember we do not see with our eyes, we see with our brain, and the fact is that many people's brain are trained to read what they think it says, and not what it really says! I am sure that happens to all of us! Many times I have even caught myself reading something where someone points out the wording of a verse, and I remember it differently, only to check it out and find out I was wrong!
There are other verses, where I see people quote it wrong all the time, and it goes unnoticed. Such as Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are THE called according to his purpose. Many people leave out the word THE.
Something that I think happen the majority of times, is when people will quote verses that do not say what they think they say. For instance, in defense of eternal hell, a verse often quoted is Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Now, it talks about eternal life, but there is no mention of eternal death nor of hell either! But for those who are convinced there is such a thing as hell, this verse is often used as if to prove such a thing.
How about the verse from Hebrews 9:27 "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" When ever I hear this verse quoted, I never ever hear it quoted in context! But if you were to just read 1/2 of the next verse it says "So Christ was ONCE offered to bear the sins of many;" Don't you see, that since it was appointed unto man to die, because the wages of sin is death, then Christ died the once for man because HE was the One who paid the wages for sin for ALL men!
How many people when they read the Old Testament see a God who is full of wrath, and anger and vengeance, and then they read the New Testament, and see Jesus who is gentle and merciful and loving and kind, and they treat it as though they are not the same being? And yet, the Old Testament is FULL of verses that talk about the merciful and loving kindness of God! His mercies are knew every morning. His mercy is everlasting. Taste and see that the Lord is Good. And yet, many accuse God falsely of ignoring the cries of mankind, and seeking only to punish and impose harsh judgements!
Read Genesis 6:3 "And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also [is] flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." Now, I have always read that verse as if God were saying, "There is only so much I will take from man! I will only strive with them for so long and then WHAM! I am going to let them have it!" But that is NOT what the verse says!! It is really a verse of a promise of hope! What it is really saying is that while the process of this flesh existence may seem like forever in comparison to our existence with Him, the strife that is between us will not last forever, it will end, and then we can be restored!!
The question is, whether we are willing, when presented with new information, if we will consider that information in light of what we already believe even if it contradicts what we believe to be true? Some people are not interested in anything that differs from what they are comfortable with believing. They are not interested in the Truth as much as they are interested in being convinced they already believe the truth. Their answer might be like saying "My mind is made up... don't confuse me with the facts!
But just because we believe something to be true does not necessarily make it so. We may even implicitly trust the person or persons who told us, and that does not make it true either. They may either be deceived themselves, or have ulterior motives. Consider being told about the tooth fairy, and the Easter bunny, and of course Santa Clause. Ulterior motives with intent to deceive? Sure! Harmless? Okay.
Okay, but what about Biblical doctrine? Ah, there's the rub, as they say. Well, to start with, I was raised in a Catholic family. Not strictly so, but with that influence, however I did not believe in God as a kid. I could not sense any life or reality going to a Catholic church. Then when I was going on 17, some events transpired in my life, where God was beginning to make Himself known to me in very subtle ways.
Growing up I was involved in doing magic! I intended in my immature youthful mind to do magic as a career, but I left home when I was 16, and had to make a living, before I could make a living doing magic. As it turns out, I spent some time in Niagara Falls Ontario, and while there, I saw an advertisement for a magician doing a show in town, and I went to see him. Andre Cole was his name, and little did I know at the time, that he was a Christian magician. He had an intermission part way through his show, and indicated that people who did not wish to partake of his message in magic could leave without embarrassment. I did not know what he meant, nor did I care, I just wanted to see more magic.
He did do a couple of great tricks, but he also had a biblical message to tell that blended in with the tricks that he performed. I was spell bound, and afterward, they handed out cards to fill out if you wanted more information about Jesus. I filled it out, still in this "fog" of wonderment. I was staying in a motel at the time, and the day some pamphlets came, I had a visitor, and I threw them out because of embarrassment.
God was not done with me yet! This was just one of the first steps He was taking to reveal Himself to me, and the steps continue to this day! From that day, till this has been quite a journey! I have gotten to see some amazing things, and to SEE some amazing Truth! It is in my heart right now to write the next couple of posts about how some of the steps progressed in this Human Journey that I am on. I will try to explain the way I saw certain truths as I was being taught them. I will try to explain how my belief in those truths changed over the years, to give a general overview of what I believe to be true now. Perhaps along the way we will find out if You See What I See!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Get The Answer Before You Ask.
"And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." Isaiah 65:24
There are a few ideas floating around in my Spirit to write about, and I am trying to let it settle down within me, so that it can become clear to the reader when they read this post what I am trying to say. The verse above popped into my heart as a continuation of my last post, and so lets start there.
I talked about how that it is always NOW with God. That He is not limited to this time, space, continuum. How it is that time is a function of a linear frame of reference consisting of a measurement between the happening of events. A dictionary states one meaning of time as this: the system of those sequential relations that any event has to any other, as past, present, or future; indefinite and continuous duration regarded as that in which events succeed one another.
No matter how we define it, God is not limited to it. He is no more surprised by an event, than you would be if you watched the six o'clock news, and then saw a repeat at the eleven o'clock news! "That which is past is yet to be..." So we can see then how it is that the opening of the verse at the top says; before you call He will answer. God already knows what the desires of your heart are going to be, because He is the one who gave them to you in the first place. What follows is interesting too, because it is that God will even bother to listen to you while you ask Him what He has already put into motion to answer.
I have read many stories over the years of people who write about how they prayed for something, and the answer came quickly to them, but the provision had to have already been in motion many days ahead of time. A check in the mail that was posted a week earlier arrives the day of the need, and the request that was made. And for anyone who is interested in countless examples of God's provision, at the very time there was a need it would do your heart good to read about the life of George Mueller
This is the other verse that was in my heart to write about. "Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." Psalm 37:4 I guess we could talk about the conditional requirment for getting the desires of you heart, is to first delight yourself in the Lord. And, while it can be easily thought of as a materialistic verse, I think it is more maturely defined as a verse that has nothing to do with materialistic possessions!
I look at it this way. The very desires that we have; God is the one that gives them to us. In other words, the very fact that we have a desire for something.... even more especially if that desire is to know Him more... God is the one who gave us that desire! Then having put that desire within us: He fulfills it within us!
How about the Human Journey example first. The easiest way I can relate this is to say that I spent 15 years as a sport skydiver . I have just short of 1100 jumps out of perfectly good airplanes! When I first started jumping, and for many years it was almost an obsession for me. Every weekend, warm or cold I was at the airport looking to get up in the air. The funny thing was that there are many people who I talked to that had no desire to do what I did! Where did that desire come from? It was a unique gift from God to me. Then it seemed almost suddenly, about 10 years ago, that it was not as important to me. It was as if I didn't need to jump anymore. The last time I jumped was about 5 years ago. That passionate desire was gone.
Now, I am almost as obsessed with learning to fly. There seems to be some "desire in my heart" to be airborne that was waiting it's time for fulfillment. Every time I hear a plane go by, I look up to find it and track it with a longing to join them, at least in some sort of vicarious way. Yet, my wife has no desire to even fly any more than she absolutely has to! It is a good thing she is not tall, she would maybe be too afraid to stand up! haha.
Such a unlimited variety of interests and passions and desires. Some people love sports. My dad is one of them. He would watch tiddly winks if that was the only sport to see. There are artists and musicians, accountants and lawyers, truckdrivers and tugboat captains, carpenters and masons, doctors and astronauts! God has made each one of us unique, and has given each one of us the desires of our heart! And more importantly, He fulfills those desires within us. But that is not just limited to the Human Journey level, it is also on the level of relationship with Him! Anyone who has the tiniest desire within them to know their Creator is because, their Creator put that desire to know Him within them! And He is the only One that can fulfill that desire!
This is an important point that should not be overlooked! "There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God." Romans 3:11. This is something that most Christians do not understand about themselves, nor about other people they come in contact with. "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him:" John 6:44a The Greek word for "draw" used here is the word helko hel'-ko; probably akin to haireomai; to drag (literally or figuratively) -- draw. The same word is used in the verse from John 12:32 "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me."
While I will definitely write more about this subject in future posts, I will say this now... Jesus died for ALL men, and He will save everyone He died for! To those who don't believe that to be true I will suggest you look up the verses that use the word ALL, and then ask yourself what you don't understand about ALL is it the "A" or the two "L's"? The place where most Christians, and Pastors and Teachers go off track is that they are taught and believe contrary to clear Scripture otherwise, that God's ability to affect a person's salvation is over with after the point of mortal death. This is simply and clearly NOT true.
I would like to say this to the cautious reader who may not be familiar with what I have just said, and may be wondering what it is they are about to discover contrary to what they have been taught and always believed. If there is even the slightest desire within you to know MORE about God than you have known up until now; if you can sense within the deepest recesses of your being that God is bigger than anyone has been telling you; if ever you questioned whether God could possibly know what He is doing with creating mankind only to let the majority of them suffer for eternity because of Adam's sin in the Garden of Eden; then I recommend you do not neglect searching for an answer. And an excellent article to read for more information in the mean time that goes beyond the scope of this blog post would be found by clicking the link HERE to read what Preston Eby has written.
Who knows, perhaps you did not even know you had this desire until it was stirred up within by reading this post? If that is the case, then for sure you are experiencing for yourself first hand what it is like to Get The Answer Before You Ask.
There are a few ideas floating around in my Spirit to write about, and I am trying to let it settle down within me, so that it can become clear to the reader when they read this post what I am trying to say. The verse above popped into my heart as a continuation of my last post, and so lets start there.
I talked about how that it is always NOW with God. That He is not limited to this time, space, continuum. How it is that time is a function of a linear frame of reference consisting of a measurement between the happening of events. A dictionary states one meaning of time as this: the system of those sequential relations that any event has to any other, as past, present, or future; indefinite and continuous duration regarded as that in which events succeed one another.
No matter how we define it, God is not limited to it. He is no more surprised by an event, than you would be if you watched the six o'clock news, and then saw a repeat at the eleven o'clock news! "That which is past is yet to be..." So we can see then how it is that the opening of the verse at the top says; before you call He will answer. God already knows what the desires of your heart are going to be, because He is the one who gave them to you in the first place. What follows is interesting too, because it is that God will even bother to listen to you while you ask Him what He has already put into motion to answer.
I have read many stories over the years of people who write about how they prayed for something, and the answer came quickly to them, but the provision had to have already been in motion many days ahead of time. A check in the mail that was posted a week earlier arrives the day of the need, and the request that was made. And for anyone who is interested in countless examples of God's provision, at the very time there was a need it would do your heart good to read about the life of George Mueller
This is the other verse that was in my heart to write about. "Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." Psalm 37:4 I guess we could talk about the conditional requirment for getting the desires of you heart, is to first delight yourself in the Lord. And, while it can be easily thought of as a materialistic verse, I think it is more maturely defined as a verse that has nothing to do with materialistic possessions!
I look at it this way. The very desires that we have; God is the one that gives them to us. In other words, the very fact that we have a desire for something.... even more especially if that desire is to know Him more... God is the one who gave us that desire! Then having put that desire within us: He fulfills it within us!
How about the Human Journey example first. The easiest way I can relate this is to say that I spent 15 years as a sport skydiver . I have just short of 1100 jumps out of perfectly good airplanes! When I first started jumping, and for many years it was almost an obsession for me. Every weekend, warm or cold I was at the airport looking to get up in the air. The funny thing was that there are many people who I talked to that had no desire to do what I did! Where did that desire come from? It was a unique gift from God to me. Then it seemed almost suddenly, about 10 years ago, that it was not as important to me. It was as if I didn't need to jump anymore. The last time I jumped was about 5 years ago. That passionate desire was gone.
Now, I am almost as obsessed with learning to fly. There seems to be some "desire in my heart" to be airborne that was waiting it's time for fulfillment. Every time I hear a plane go by, I look up to find it and track it with a longing to join them, at least in some sort of vicarious way. Yet, my wife has no desire to even fly any more than she absolutely has to! It is a good thing she is not tall, she would maybe be too afraid to stand up! haha.
Such a unlimited variety of interests and passions and desires. Some people love sports. My dad is one of them. He would watch tiddly winks if that was the only sport to see. There are artists and musicians, accountants and lawyers, truckdrivers and tugboat captains, carpenters and masons, doctors and astronauts! God has made each one of us unique, and has given each one of us the desires of our heart! And more importantly, He fulfills those desires within us. But that is not just limited to the Human Journey level, it is also on the level of relationship with Him! Anyone who has the tiniest desire within them to know their Creator is because, their Creator put that desire to know Him within them! And He is the only One that can fulfill that desire!
This is an important point that should not be overlooked! "There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God." Romans 3:11. This is something that most Christians do not understand about themselves, nor about other people they come in contact with. "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him:" John 6:44a The Greek word for "draw" used here is the word helko hel'-ko; probably akin to haireomai; to drag (literally or figuratively) -- draw. The same word is used in the verse from John 12:32 "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me."
While I will definitely write more about this subject in future posts, I will say this now... Jesus died for ALL men, and He will save everyone He died for! To those who don't believe that to be true I will suggest you look up the verses that use the word ALL, and then ask yourself what you don't understand about ALL is it the "A" or the two "L's"? The place where most Christians, and Pastors and Teachers go off track is that they are taught and believe contrary to clear Scripture otherwise, that God's ability to affect a person's salvation is over with after the point of mortal death. This is simply and clearly NOT true.
I would like to say this to the cautious reader who may not be familiar with what I have just said, and may be wondering what it is they are about to discover contrary to what they have been taught and always believed. If there is even the slightest desire within you to know MORE about God than you have known up until now; if you can sense within the deepest recesses of your being that God is bigger than anyone has been telling you; if ever you questioned whether God could possibly know what He is doing with creating mankind only to let the majority of them suffer for eternity because of Adam's sin in the Garden of Eden; then I recommend you do not neglect searching for an answer. And an excellent article to read for more information in the mean time that goes beyond the scope of this blog post would be found by clicking the link HERE to read what Preston Eby has written.
Who knows, perhaps you did not even know you had this desire until it was stirred up within by reading this post? If that is the case, then for sure you are experiencing for yourself first hand what it is like to Get The Answer Before You Ask.
Friday, December 10, 2010
The Past Becomes Present
It has been a while since my last post..... actually only a week, but it seems much longer, and for those who have not been following along, (which is most of you since I do not have that many readers at this point) there is actually no apparent time lapse at all! Since the time has already passed between the time I wrote the last post and this one, anyone reading this blog from this time on, can read any post up till now without delay.
It may seem like a trivial point to make, and while I did not intend to make this point when I sat here to write this post, it seems now like the perfect time to cease upon this opportunity. Let me first share that the reason for my delay in posting was partly due to the fact that as I have mentioned already, I am in the process of getting my pilot's license. The focus of much of my free time over the past few months has been to diligently study to pass a written test for the FAA which is one of the requirements for that license. That test was today, and I passed with a 98% score. There were 44 questions taken from a pool of more than 650 questions, and I missed answering one of them correctly. I say it that way because I understood the question; I knew the answer; it was just that I made a mistake in understanding the wording of the answer I chose. Either way a 70% is a passing grade, and anything more is a personal achievement.
This is the Human Journey side of this post. I still have more flying skills to accomplish, and depending a lot on weather conditions especially during the winter months will determine how much time I will be able to work on those skills in the pilot seat of the aircraft. The next goal to strive for, is the final practical exam to get my actual pilot's license, or as they like to call it, "A license to learn". At that point, I will be qualified to take a passenger up with me when I fly, and I am looking forward to the time when I can do that.
Now back to the point I was going to make. Back in the summer of '93 I first watched a VHS tape of Willie Hinn preaching a message in Vancouver B.C. from 4 years earlier. God used the impact of that message to radically change my theology from that moment on. It would have been no more real to me than if I heard a literal voice of God that spoke to me that day and said "This is what you have been waiting for all these years." Most of the things I believe today are a result of the change that started within me that day.
After that day I got a copy of several tapes of messages from him, and listened to them in the car on the way to work and back every day. Then I made arrangements for him to ship me a box of about 35 more tapes, and I listened to them in a matter of a couple of weeks. I soon got many more tapes, and over the course of the years following, I've listened to a couple hundred messages and more from him, and many others.
When I first started listening to the tapes, he had several series of messages he would preach, and I thought it was such an advantage to not have to wait until the next week before I could hear the next message. All I had to do was pop the next tape in to listen to the next message. Then it dawned on me that he had already preached these messages, and while I was hearing them for the first time, the delay in between the time they were preached had already passed. To me, it was almost as if that time delay did not exist. That past had become my present.
What a lesson in perspective! To those that were hearing it in "real time" they had to wait until the next week had passed before they could hear the next part. For me, I was able to hear the exact same messages, but at a different time and place, and since they were already preached, it was just a matter of the time it took for me to hear what was being said, without any delay in between each message.
I think of that when I consider that God is not bound by the limits of time either. The past and the present are all the same to Him! Many are familiar with the verse in Revelation that says: 1:8 "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." What might have slipped your attention, is that the time is not in sequential order. He is the Lord that IS present tense. That would be enough because He IS always present, and time is always present tense with God, then it says which was and which is to come! We relate to time in the past and future tense, but God is not bound by those limitations!
I wondered how I was going to do on my test this morning. God did not have to wonder with me. And the fact is that now it is in my past through the passage of time since then, and it is no longer a mystery to me, but it was never a mystery to God! It is the same with any event in the history of the Universe!
Ecclesiastes 1:9 says: "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun." How does that make sense? The thing that HAS been is that which SHALL be? How can it yet happen if it has already happened? I believe it is because God is eternally present. There is no future tense with God. He does not have to wait for something to happen to know how it would work out. As a matter of fact, I believe there is evidence to prove that God knew what my test results were going to be before He even created the Universe!!
Isaiah 46:10-11 "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times [the things] that are not [yet] done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:....yea, I have spoken [it], I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed [it], I will also do it."
Colossians 1:17 "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."
While some people read the Bible to try to discern future events, I believe that the Bible could be considered on a smaller scale, like the VHS tape was to me. There is nothing that has yet to happen during the course of time, that has not already taken place in the mind of God. As far as we are concerned, the process of time must take place before we can experience the events that have already taken place! It is partly because of this, that I do not believe man has what many have come to define as a "free will."
This provides great comfort for me!! It means that no matter what happens.... whether it is something that I enjoy, or something that I do not enjoy, everything down to the finest detail has already been carefully and lovingly thought out and planned and purposed, and worked out to the exact specifications ahead of time, and have already taken place in the mind of God according to His Will. It is a great comfort to know that what ever results there are that take place as the byproduct of my actions, or anyone elses', that it was not because of some random decision made independently of God's purpose.
I intend to write more definitively on this matter in future posts, but for now I am content to rest in the peace that comes from knowing God has it all under control for when that which is in The Past Becomes Present.
It may seem like a trivial point to make, and while I did not intend to make this point when I sat here to write this post, it seems now like the perfect time to cease upon this opportunity. Let me first share that the reason for my delay in posting was partly due to the fact that as I have mentioned already, I am in the process of getting my pilot's license. The focus of much of my free time over the past few months has been to diligently study to pass a written test for the FAA which is one of the requirements for that license. That test was today, and I passed with a 98% score. There were 44 questions taken from a pool of more than 650 questions, and I missed answering one of them correctly. I say it that way because I understood the question; I knew the answer; it was just that I made a mistake in understanding the wording of the answer I chose. Either way a 70% is a passing grade, and anything more is a personal achievement.
This is the Human Journey side of this post. I still have more flying skills to accomplish, and depending a lot on weather conditions especially during the winter months will determine how much time I will be able to work on those skills in the pilot seat of the aircraft. The next goal to strive for, is the final practical exam to get my actual pilot's license, or as they like to call it, "A license to learn". At that point, I will be qualified to take a passenger up with me when I fly, and I am looking forward to the time when I can do that.
Now back to the point I was going to make. Back in the summer of '93 I first watched a VHS tape of Willie Hinn preaching a message in Vancouver B.C. from 4 years earlier. God used the impact of that message to radically change my theology from that moment on. It would have been no more real to me than if I heard a literal voice of God that spoke to me that day and said "This is what you have been waiting for all these years." Most of the things I believe today are a result of the change that started within me that day.
After that day I got a copy of several tapes of messages from him, and listened to them in the car on the way to work and back every day. Then I made arrangements for him to ship me a box of about 35 more tapes, and I listened to them in a matter of a couple of weeks. I soon got many more tapes, and over the course of the years following, I've listened to a couple hundred messages and more from him, and many others.
When I first started listening to the tapes, he had several series of messages he would preach, and I thought it was such an advantage to not have to wait until the next week before I could hear the next message. All I had to do was pop the next tape in to listen to the next message. Then it dawned on me that he had already preached these messages, and while I was hearing them for the first time, the delay in between the time they were preached had already passed. To me, it was almost as if that time delay did not exist. That past had become my present.
What a lesson in perspective! To those that were hearing it in "real time" they had to wait until the next week had passed before they could hear the next part. For me, I was able to hear the exact same messages, but at a different time and place, and since they were already preached, it was just a matter of the time it took for me to hear what was being said, without any delay in between each message.
I think of that when I consider that God is not bound by the limits of time either. The past and the present are all the same to Him! Many are familiar with the verse in Revelation that says: 1:8 "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." What might have slipped your attention, is that the time is not in sequential order. He is the Lord that IS present tense. That would be enough because He IS always present, and time is always present tense with God, then it says which was and which is to come! We relate to time in the past and future tense, but God is not bound by those limitations!
I wondered how I was going to do on my test this morning. God did not have to wonder with me. And the fact is that now it is in my past through the passage of time since then, and it is no longer a mystery to me, but it was never a mystery to God! It is the same with any event in the history of the Universe!
Ecclesiastes 1:9 says: "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun." How does that make sense? The thing that HAS been is that which SHALL be? How can it yet happen if it has already happened? I believe it is because God is eternally present. There is no future tense with God. He does not have to wait for something to happen to know how it would work out. As a matter of fact, I believe there is evidence to prove that God knew what my test results were going to be before He even created the Universe!!
Isaiah 46:10-11 "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times [the things] that are not [yet] done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:....yea, I have spoken [it], I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed [it], I will also do it."
Colossians 1:17 "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."
While some people read the Bible to try to discern future events, I believe that the Bible could be considered on a smaller scale, like the VHS tape was to me. There is nothing that has yet to happen during the course of time, that has not already taken place in the mind of God. As far as we are concerned, the process of time must take place before we can experience the events that have already taken place! It is partly because of this, that I do not believe man has what many have come to define as a "free will."
This provides great comfort for me!! It means that no matter what happens.... whether it is something that I enjoy, or something that I do not enjoy, everything down to the finest detail has already been carefully and lovingly thought out and planned and purposed, and worked out to the exact specifications ahead of time, and have already taken place in the mind of God according to His Will. It is a great comfort to know that what ever results there are that take place as the byproduct of my actions, or anyone elses', that it was not because of some random decision made independently of God's purpose.
I intend to write more definitively on this matter in future posts, but for now I am content to rest in the peace that comes from knowing God has it all under control for when that which is in The Past Becomes Present.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Life As We Don't Know It.
I was listening to the radio today and there was a biologist who was explaining that they found some microbotic life form, that was different from anything they have known about before. It did give me pause to consider the unfathomable creativity of our God, who has not only created the heavens and the earth, and all of the variety of animals, and the variety of the fish, and the variety of the birds, and all the things that we can see, but also the vast variety of complex life forms that are beyond the ability of our naked eyes to see. Microbes so small that you need a microscope to even know of their presence!
Consider for a moment with me, while I ponder the limitless boundaries of the creative design of our God. The fact that many of the things which have only recently been discovered, have existed for hundreds of centuries before they were discovered! It was not until the invention of the microscope that mankind was able to even explore such a tiny life form! This discovered microbe apparently "eats" a substance that is toxic to man. Which means that it may become something which not only can "feed" this microbotic universe, but at the same time rid this toxic substance from harming mankind.
Every time I watch the Discovery Channel or some nature program that explores life on this planet, it never ceases to amaze me that were it not for recent technology, these things would never have been seen by human eyes, and also how long such majestic beauty has gone unnoticed by billions of people.
Rev. 4:11 "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."
Isn't it great how God has included within the makeup of man, even the part of Himself that is not only creative, but that also takes pleasure in that which is created! The first year that I drove my parents in their motor home from Ontario to California, we stopped several times at tourist areas along the way, and I got to see such overwhelmingly beautiful sights, it was hard to even comprehend! We stopped at Carlsbad Caverns, and the underground beauty is beyond words to describe. We also visited the Petrified Forest, and the Painted Desert, which is such a sight to behold. With the vast variety of color, it is as if the sand became the canvas of the Creator's artistic brush work. But if you want to really give your eyes a treat that will make you grateful you can see would be to visit the Grand Canyon! Don't just look at pictures in a book, admire the view in person if you ever get the chance!
And so we see that same creativity of beautiful things found within the hearts and hands of human artists. Painters, sculptors, and craftsmen, all expressing themselves in ways that release this God given nature within them to copy their Creator! But, lets not limit such creativity to our visual senses only, for our hearing can present us with such auditory wonders as well!
No matter what your taste in music, there is an unlimited variety of sounds to satisfy every musical pleasure. Even if one is tone deaf, and cannot carry a tune in a bucket, there is strangely enough self pleasure in those, who will regal any within the sound of their voice, whatever rendition that passes out past their lips to the public airways.
Let us not forget those culinary creators whose gift is to delight the palate with such succulent taste bud treats. Shall I continue to describe in detail how pleasure can be gained from our sense of touch? It reminds me of a video that was an Internet sensation about some people that held up a sign offering free hugs!
Of the five senses we have, the last one to mention here is smell. We all know how unpleasant it is to smell things that have a bad odor, and how pleasant it is to smell things that have such a good odor! I have heard that our sense of smell is one of the strongest memory triggers that is known. It is amazing the details with which we can recognize even the faintest differences in odors, and how it is that a particular smell can immediately transport us to a place and time in our mind from many long forgotten years ago.
From the earth to the heavens, and we can not even imagine those sights unseen by flesh and blood of planets and stars and galaxies in the outer reaches of the universe. Each orb is ordained by a Sovereign God, who sustains all things by the Word of His Power!
But, what about those things beyond the realm of physical existence? There are many people who say that they won't believe unless they see it with their own eyes. You can't always trust your eyes to not deceive you. An optical illusion is a good example of that. The fact is that we do not experience things with our senses anyway, they just become the gateway to the brain, and it is our brain that interprets what each signal is transmitting into a recognizable part of life as we know it.
But what about Life as we DON'T know it? After all, this bog is all about our being Spiritual beings on a Human Journey, and while we so often get caught up in the human journey part, we are spiritual beings first! How much of our Spiritual side do we really understand? How would your life change if you knew more about who you really are in Spirit? Did you know that there is not one verse in the Bible that says you have to die to go to heaven? We ARE seated WITH HIM in Heavenly places! We are encouraged in Scripture to "come up higher." To live on a higher realm of existence. We are created with a greater purpose in mind than to live a mundane life.
Bob Torango has done some awesome work in studying the spiritual truths behind human DNA. He has written many studies about it, and even formed it into a book that can be found HERE. One astounding aspect to this study is that every DNA cell contains the entire "Book" of every detail of our life! And there is the possibility that contained within our DNA is a "switch" that can change us from mortal beings into immortal beings! The possibility that perhaps when the "fall" took place in the Garden, that what actually happened was a part of our DNA became inaccessible. That were were "lowered" into this "wilderness" existence. (As a side note, it has been pointed out how a wilderness is just an unkempt garden!) He describes how scientists have discovered parts of our DNA they do not know what it is for, and they have called it "Junk DNA" since they think it serves not useful purpose. However maybe within that section of DNA is the key to open us up to a whole new Life As We Don't Know It. At least not yet.
Consider for a moment with me, while I ponder the limitless boundaries of the creative design of our God. The fact that many of the things which have only recently been discovered, have existed for hundreds of centuries before they were discovered! It was not until the invention of the microscope that mankind was able to even explore such a tiny life form! This discovered microbe apparently "eats" a substance that is toxic to man. Which means that it may become something which not only can "feed" this microbotic universe, but at the same time rid this toxic substance from harming mankind.
Every time I watch the Discovery Channel or some nature program that explores life on this planet, it never ceases to amaze me that were it not for recent technology, these things would never have been seen by human eyes, and also how long such majestic beauty has gone unnoticed by billions of people.
Rev. 4:11 "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."
Isn't it great how God has included within the makeup of man, even the part of Himself that is not only creative, but that also takes pleasure in that which is created! The first year that I drove my parents in their motor home from Ontario to California, we stopped several times at tourist areas along the way, and I got to see such overwhelmingly beautiful sights, it was hard to even comprehend! We stopped at Carlsbad Caverns, and the underground beauty is beyond words to describe. We also visited the Petrified Forest, and the Painted Desert, which is such a sight to behold. With the vast variety of color, it is as if the sand became the canvas of the Creator's artistic brush work. But if you want to really give your eyes a treat that will make you grateful you can see would be to visit the Grand Canyon! Don't just look at pictures in a book, admire the view in person if you ever get the chance!
And so we see that same creativity of beautiful things found within the hearts and hands of human artists. Painters, sculptors, and craftsmen, all expressing themselves in ways that release this God given nature within them to copy their Creator! But, lets not limit such creativity to our visual senses only, for our hearing can present us with such auditory wonders as well!
No matter what your taste in music, there is an unlimited variety of sounds to satisfy every musical pleasure. Even if one is tone deaf, and cannot carry a tune in a bucket, there is strangely enough self pleasure in those, who will regal any within the sound of their voice, whatever rendition that passes out past their lips to the public airways.
Let us not forget those culinary creators whose gift is to delight the palate with such succulent taste bud treats. Shall I continue to describe in detail how pleasure can be gained from our sense of touch? It reminds me of a video that was an Internet sensation about some people that held up a sign offering free hugs!
Of the five senses we have, the last one to mention here is smell. We all know how unpleasant it is to smell things that have a bad odor, and how pleasant it is to smell things that have such a good odor! I have heard that our sense of smell is one of the strongest memory triggers that is known. It is amazing the details with which we can recognize even the faintest differences in odors, and how it is that a particular smell can immediately transport us to a place and time in our mind from many long forgotten years ago.
From the earth to the heavens, and we can not even imagine those sights unseen by flesh and blood of planets and stars and galaxies in the outer reaches of the universe. Each orb is ordained by a Sovereign God, who sustains all things by the Word of His Power!
But, what about those things beyond the realm of physical existence? There are many people who say that they won't believe unless they see it with their own eyes. You can't always trust your eyes to not deceive you. An optical illusion is a good example of that. The fact is that we do not experience things with our senses anyway, they just become the gateway to the brain, and it is our brain that interprets what each signal is transmitting into a recognizable part of life as we know it.
But what about Life as we DON'T know it? After all, this bog is all about our being Spiritual beings on a Human Journey, and while we so often get caught up in the human journey part, we are spiritual beings first! How much of our Spiritual side do we really understand? How would your life change if you knew more about who you really are in Spirit? Did you know that there is not one verse in the Bible that says you have to die to go to heaven? We ARE seated WITH HIM in Heavenly places! We are encouraged in Scripture to "come up higher." To live on a higher realm of existence. We are created with a greater purpose in mind than to live a mundane life.
Bob Torango has done some awesome work in studying the spiritual truths behind human DNA. He has written many studies about it, and even formed it into a book that can be found HERE. One astounding aspect to this study is that every DNA cell contains the entire "Book" of every detail of our life! And there is the possibility that contained within our DNA is a "switch" that can change us from mortal beings into immortal beings! The possibility that perhaps when the "fall" took place in the Garden, that what actually happened was a part of our DNA became inaccessible. That were were "lowered" into this "wilderness" existence. (As a side note, it has been pointed out how a wilderness is just an unkempt garden!) He describes how scientists have discovered parts of our DNA they do not know what it is for, and they have called it "Junk DNA" since they think it serves not useful purpose. However maybe within that section of DNA is the key to open us up to a whole new Life As We Don't Know It. At least not yet.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Being An Extra Miler
"If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles." Matt 5:41 New Living Translation (©2007)
The reason I quoted this verse from the New Living translation is because it more accurately reveals the meaning behind the words of Jesus taken from His Sermon on the Mount.Going the extra mile is one of those principles of living from out of our new creation being while on this Human Journey, that I felt I wanted to take a post to expound. It is really a great principle to know, that reaps a great benefit to the "Extra Miler".
An explanation of the Roman law from which this principle is based on is found here An excerpt of which is: "In first century Judea, the poor were oppressed under a practice called angareia – the involuntary drafting of peasants to carry the gear of Roman soldiers. Angareia is seen in the Bible when Simon of Cyrene was forced by Roman soldiers to carry the cross of Jesus. He was only forced to carry the cross part of the way, however, since the Roman government had ruled that the maximum distance a man could be forced to carry gear under angareia was one mile.
One mile might not sound very far, but Roman soldiers often carried at least seventy pounds of gear with them. If a man was asked to carry this gear for a mile and he resisted, he would be beaten, arrested, and imprisoned. If he surrendered to the Roman soldier’s demand, he would have to carry the gear for an entire mile. After one mile, the Roman soldier would tell him to stop, since carrying it further than one mile was a crime under Roman law."
The writer goes on to suggest that Jesus taught this principle of going the extra mile as a way of peaceful resistance since the Jewish peasant could turn the tables on the soldier because the soldier could be beaten himself if he forced someone to carry it further than a mile. This is the same explanation I have researched from several sources, however I am in complete disagreement with this reasoning.
I am fully convinced Jesus was NOT teaching peaceful resistance. He was more concerned with teaching how to live from the Law of the Spirit of Life (Rom.8: 2) His concern was never about resisting the Romans, nor teaching others to resist them. Jesus taught to LOVE your enemies! To do good to those who persecute you! How is that consistent with the idea that a Jew forced by a Roman soldier to carry a pack, would turn the tables on that soldier and seek to get him in trouble with his superiors?
Okay, so what is really happening here then? I believe that what is really taught here is something that will change the heart of the person who is obligated and resentful, to one who is free and at peace! Think about it. As long as the Jewish boy, or man is obligated to carry this pack for that mile, he is being subjugated under control of the soldier by law, but the very step that is taken past that obligitory mile is one in which the Jewish person now takes control of his own life. During that first mile he could be filled with hate and anger, but the second he takes that next step, he is freed from such negative emotions!
How could he still hate the soldier when his obligation is complete, and yet he still continues to carry this heavy pack further down the road? He is not doing it as some sort of peaceful resistance, but rather it is to free himself of any hatred and un-forgiveness, and bitterness within his own heart.
Imagine the surprise of the soldier when the mile is finished, and yet this person does not throw the pack on to the ground and kick dust on it, and curse the soldier all the while running away! Instead he continues carrying it further. "What's the big idea?" The soldier might ask. "Are you trying to get me in trouble?" At this point the Jewish man might say, "Not at all, but I was listening to a man named Jesus, and He said that it is something that we must do as a way of living a New and better way, full of life and peace."
Now, instead of fulfilling the obligation of an enemy, he has opened up the opportunity for God to work a miracle within the hearts of himself and the soldier. If the soldier resists, since he suspects foul play, then the man might just offer to be some company along the way. If the soldier further resists, that is okay too since it was really meant to first release the heart of the Jewish man from his own hatred.
You see, it is not limited to just the first century Jerusalem, but this same principle applies to right here and now with any obligation you may find yourself having to fulfill which is causing you bitterness and making you resentful. A prime example is something I heard when I first learned this principle. It involved a man who went through a messy divorce. He lost much of his own assets, and was obligated to pay alimony on top of everything else. Every time he wrote out that monthly check, he could not help but feel a rage within, as all of the memories of how he had been unfairly treated came back to him. It was making him bitter and angry, and he sought help to get rid of these negative emotions that were eating him up inside.
The advice that was given to him was the next time he would sit down to write the obligitory alimony check, that he was to take the amount he was supposed to write, and add more money to that total!
"What?" He cried out! "I am already paying more than I should have to, and now you think I should pay more?"
What was explained to him, and what he finally began to understand was that it would be impossible to be bitter about paying an amount greater than what was owed! If you do more than you are obligated to do, you can decide how much more. You now become in control of the situation, instead of having the obligation control you. Every dollar more than required is a dollar free from the prison of bitterness and resentment. It becomes a release. It becomes and escape from the anger of hateful emotions.
Jesus says to love your enemies. How is that possible? Perhaps one way is to take them off of the enemies list by Being An Extra Miler.
The reason I quoted this verse from the New Living translation is because it more accurately reveals the meaning behind the words of Jesus taken from His Sermon on the Mount.Going the extra mile is one of those principles of living from out of our new creation being while on this Human Journey, that I felt I wanted to take a post to expound. It is really a great principle to know, that reaps a great benefit to the "Extra Miler". An explanation of the Roman law from which this principle is based on is found here An excerpt of which is: "In first century Judea, the poor were oppressed under a practice called angareia – the involuntary drafting of peasants to carry the gear of Roman soldiers. Angareia is seen in the Bible when Simon of Cyrene was forced by Roman soldiers to carry the cross of Jesus. He was only forced to carry the cross part of the way, however, since the Roman government had ruled that the maximum distance a man could be forced to carry gear under angareia was one mile.
One mile might not sound very far, but Roman soldiers often carried at least seventy pounds of gear with them. If a man was asked to carry this gear for a mile and he resisted, he would be beaten, arrested, and imprisoned. If he surrendered to the Roman soldier’s demand, he would have to carry the gear for an entire mile. After one mile, the Roman soldier would tell him to stop, since carrying it further than one mile was a crime under Roman law."
The writer goes on to suggest that Jesus taught this principle of going the extra mile as a way of peaceful resistance since the Jewish peasant could turn the tables on the soldier because the soldier could be beaten himself if he forced someone to carry it further than a mile. This is the same explanation I have researched from several sources, however I am in complete disagreement with this reasoning.
I am fully convinced Jesus was NOT teaching peaceful resistance. He was more concerned with teaching how to live from the Law of the Spirit of Life (Rom.8: 2) His concern was never about resisting the Romans, nor teaching others to resist them. Jesus taught to LOVE your enemies! To do good to those who persecute you! How is that consistent with the idea that a Jew forced by a Roman soldier to carry a pack, would turn the tables on that soldier and seek to get him in trouble with his superiors?
Okay, so what is really happening here then? I believe that what is really taught here is something that will change the heart of the person who is obligated and resentful, to one who is free and at peace! Think about it. As long as the Jewish boy, or man is obligated to carry this pack for that mile, he is being subjugated under control of the soldier by law, but the very step that is taken past that obligitory mile is one in which the Jewish person now takes control of his own life. During that first mile he could be filled with hate and anger, but the second he takes that next step, he is freed from such negative emotions!
How could he still hate the soldier when his obligation is complete, and yet he still continues to carry this heavy pack further down the road? He is not doing it as some sort of peaceful resistance, but rather it is to free himself of any hatred and un-forgiveness, and bitterness within his own heart.
Imagine the surprise of the soldier when the mile is finished, and yet this person does not throw the pack on to the ground and kick dust on it, and curse the soldier all the while running away! Instead he continues carrying it further. "What's the big idea?" The soldier might ask. "Are you trying to get me in trouble?" At this point the Jewish man might say, "Not at all, but I was listening to a man named Jesus, and He said that it is something that we must do as a way of living a New and better way, full of life and peace."
Now, instead of fulfilling the obligation of an enemy, he has opened up the opportunity for God to work a miracle within the hearts of himself and the soldier. If the soldier resists, since he suspects foul play, then the man might just offer to be some company along the way. If the soldier further resists, that is okay too since it was really meant to first release the heart of the Jewish man from his own hatred.
You see, it is not limited to just the first century Jerusalem, but this same principle applies to right here and now with any obligation you may find yourself having to fulfill which is causing you bitterness and making you resentful. A prime example is something I heard when I first learned this principle. It involved a man who went through a messy divorce. He lost much of his own assets, and was obligated to pay alimony on top of everything else. Every time he wrote out that monthly check, he could not help but feel a rage within, as all of the memories of how he had been unfairly treated came back to him. It was making him bitter and angry, and he sought help to get rid of these negative emotions that were eating him up inside.
The advice that was given to him was the next time he would sit down to write the obligitory alimony check, that he was to take the amount he was supposed to write, and add more money to that total!
"What?" He cried out! "I am already paying more than I should have to, and now you think I should pay more?"
What was explained to him, and what he finally began to understand was that it would be impossible to be bitter about paying an amount greater than what was owed! If you do more than you are obligated to do, you can decide how much more. You now become in control of the situation, instead of having the obligation control you. Every dollar more than required is a dollar free from the prison of bitterness and resentment. It becomes a release. It becomes and escape from the anger of hateful emotions.
Jesus says to love your enemies. How is that possible? Perhaps one way is to take them off of the enemies list by Being An Extra Miler.
Changing The Way You Pray!
Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."
I want to clarify something that confuses a lot of Christians. God is Not schizophrenic. There are not three Gods sitting around discussing things. There is not God, AND Jesus, AND the Holy Spirit. It is all about relationship. Simply put, I am a son. I am a step-dad. I am a husband. I am still only one person, but it is all about relationship. Jesus is the expression of God in human form. Look at what it says here in John 14:8-9 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou [then], Shew us the Father?
In several previous posts I have been writing about the Names of God, and discussed that a Name represents the nature and character. It is not just reciting the name Jesus as an incantation on the end of a prayer some how twists God's arm into giving to you your list of demands.
As I have said before, one of the ways in which God will reveal Himself to His creation is through His Names. "They who know God’s name will put their trust in Him." (Psalm 9:10). A name is that by which a person or thing is made known. In Scripture, a name reveals more than just a title; it reveals the very nature and character of the one that is named.
As for God, he makes Himself known by many names. Not that His nature changes, for He changes not; but one name could not possibly contain, and reveal all of Who God is. He reveals more of His nature; more of Who He is; by each name He is made known. The more fully we come to know all of Who God is through His names; the more fully we will know Him.
What I believe where most people have a problem, is in reading the Old Testament, and seeing how God reveals Himself in part is what they think He is in totality! Nothing could be further from the truth! In the New Testament we can fully know God in the person of Jesus! All of the various names (natures) by which God introduced Himself in the Old Testament, are fully realized and revealed in totality in Jesus! I like how the Weymouth New Testament words Col.2:9 "For it is in Christ that the fulness of God's nature dwells embodied, and in Him you are made complete,"
Now, when the Scripture refers to Jesus as the Word of God, it might be better understood what is meant if we realize that WORDS are an expression of the one speaking. If I was to remain silent, and did not communicate in any way, there would be no way that anyone could know anything about me. They could not know my likes or dislikes, my thoughts, my emotions, my nature, characteristics, anything! It is through my words that I speak, or even what is written on these cyber pages, that reveal what is inside of me! The more I speak, and write, then the more I will reveal of myself. If someone was only to hear parts of what I say, then I could be easily misunderstood as to what I meant.
Jesus is the WORD OF GOD! He is the expression of ALL of who God is REVEALED in human visible form! What I also find interesting is that in order to speak, you have to use your breath for the words to come out of your mouth and be heard. Now, get this...... the same Hebrew word for Spirit (Ruach), is the same word used for "Breath"! It is also the same word used for "Cool", as in God walked with Adam in the Cool of the day. It is not talking about temperature, but rather in the Spirit of the day! For further information you can click here.
Okay, so now you see this, you can more clearly understand what is meant when Jesus said in John 15:7: "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."
And also in verse 16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Over the last several posts I have tried to share some things that I learned some 16 years ago, which have absolutely changed my understanding about God, and even Prayer itself. Since then I have not ever been able to pray the same way again! Though there have been times I have even tried, but I have realized quickly that I have given up childish beliefs. Not a belief that God answers prayers, but the childish belief that He is some celestial Santa Claus, giving out answers to prayers to good little boys and girls. Perhaps after reading these posts, the Spirit of God within you will also draw you to a more mature understanding and you too will begin Changing The Way You Pray!
John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."
I want to clarify something that confuses a lot of Christians. God is Not schizophrenic. There are not three Gods sitting around discussing things. There is not God, AND Jesus, AND the Holy Spirit. It is all about relationship. Simply put, I am a son. I am a step-dad. I am a husband. I am still only one person, but it is all about relationship. Jesus is the expression of God in human form. Look at what it says here in John 14:8-9 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou [then], Shew us the Father?
In several previous posts I have been writing about the Names of God, and discussed that a Name represents the nature and character. It is not just reciting the name Jesus as an incantation on the end of a prayer some how twists God's arm into giving to you your list of demands.
As I have said before, one of the ways in which God will reveal Himself to His creation is through His Names. "They who know God’s name will put their trust in Him." (Psalm 9:10). A name is that by which a person or thing is made known. In Scripture, a name reveals more than just a title; it reveals the very nature and character of the one that is named.
As for God, he makes Himself known by many names. Not that His nature changes, for He changes not; but one name could not possibly contain, and reveal all of Who God is. He reveals more of His nature; more of Who He is; by each name He is made known. The more fully we come to know all of Who God is through His names; the more fully we will know Him.
What I believe where most people have a problem, is in reading the Old Testament, and seeing how God reveals Himself in part is what they think He is in totality! Nothing could be further from the truth! In the New Testament we can fully know God in the person of Jesus! All of the various names (natures) by which God introduced Himself in the Old Testament, are fully realized and revealed in totality in Jesus! I like how the Weymouth New Testament words Col.2:9 "For it is in Christ that the fulness of God's nature dwells embodied, and in Him you are made complete,"
Now, when the Scripture refers to Jesus as the Word of God, it might be better understood what is meant if we realize that WORDS are an expression of the one speaking. If I was to remain silent, and did not communicate in any way, there would be no way that anyone could know anything about me. They could not know my likes or dislikes, my thoughts, my emotions, my nature, characteristics, anything! It is through my words that I speak, or even what is written on these cyber pages, that reveal what is inside of me! The more I speak, and write, then the more I will reveal of myself. If someone was only to hear parts of what I say, then I could be easily misunderstood as to what I meant.
Jesus is the WORD OF GOD! He is the expression of ALL of who God is REVEALED in human visible form! What I also find interesting is that in order to speak, you have to use your breath for the words to come out of your mouth and be heard. Now, get this...... the same Hebrew word for Spirit (Ruach), is the same word used for "Breath"! It is also the same word used for "Cool", as in God walked with Adam in the Cool of the day. It is not talking about temperature, but rather in the Spirit of the day! For further information you can click here.
Okay, so now you see this, you can more clearly understand what is meant when Jesus said in John 15:7: "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."
And also in verse 16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Over the last several posts I have tried to share some things that I learned some 16 years ago, which have absolutely changed my understanding about God, and even Prayer itself. Since then I have not ever been able to pray the same way again! Though there have been times I have even tried, but I have realized quickly that I have given up childish beliefs. Not a belief that God answers prayers, but the childish belief that He is some celestial Santa Claus, giving out answers to prayers to good little boys and girls. Perhaps after reading these posts, the Spirit of God within you will also draw you to a more mature understanding and you too will begin Changing The Way You Pray!
In The Name Of Jesus Amen!
Do you know why people say "Amen" at the end of a prayer. It is so that everyone knows they are finished praying! Isn't it? Most people understand the meaning of the word Amen, is "So be it". But did you know another meaning for the word is "That's my voice!" It would be like saying, "You took the words right out of my mouth". The idea is that you are so united with what that person was praying, that it was as if your voice was coming out of their mouth. You could not have said it better yourself! Doesn't that sound better than just so be it? Can I get an Amen? Haha!
Okay, so what about praying "In the Name of Jesus? If you are thinking that it is like an incantation that must be recited at the end of every prayer so that God must answer since you are twisting His arm, by citing the Name of His Son..... you could not be further from the truth! And yet, how many prayers have you heard spoken, or how many prayer have you said, where you end by saying "In the Name of Jesus, Amen." and don't really realize why, other than that is the way you have always said it... that is the way everybody does it... so it must be right. Right? I mean, there is even Scripture to back it up right?
Well, there are a few things I would like to say about praying in the Name of Jesus, that I am sure will help the reader to understand more by reading over the last couple posts, since my understanding these things changed my whole Christian walk, and forever changed the way I pray, I think it will be worth it to at least read these, and see if it doesn't also give you some food for thought.
Take this verse for example, (John 14:13,14) And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. Every commentary I read about this verse says that it means asking according to the authority Jesus. One compared it to a police officer saying to stop in the name of the law. But if you have read the previous posts, then you will see that the name of Jesus is more than just what you call Him or the authority His name possesses. The Name of Jesus, is talking about His Nature and Character, and more than that!
Previously, I talked about the Names of God. I explained that each Name of God revealed a certain aspect of God's Nature. I mentioned how that every time God would reveal another aspect of Himself to the children of Israel, that He would declare another Name He could be known by. He would provide for their needs, and then tell them that He is Jehovah-Jihra (the Lord Provides), but that is not the totality of all of who God is. Then, two thousand years ago, for the first time ever God was about to reveal to man Himself in totality in human form.
Check these verses out in Colossians.(1:19) For it pleased [the Father] that in him should all fullness dwell; (2:9) For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Jesus told Phillip, "if you have seen me, you have seen the Father." It wasn't just one or two aspects of God's nature revealed to mankind as in the Old Testament, but rather in Jesus, all of the Fullness of who God is in all of His totality was revealed in human visible form.
Jesus said in John 15:7 "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." I used to believe that this verse meant that if I quoted a lot of Scripture in my praying, then it would mean His words were abiding in me, and I could then pray for what I want, and He would have to answer "according to His word"! I could recite a Santa Claus list of items I wanted, and He would have to answer as long as I finished with saying "In the Name of Jesus, Amen."
There is nothing magical about praying using the name Jesus at the end of your prayer. It is not like saying the name Jesus twists God's arm into doing something He doesn't want to do. But there is a powerful expectation of a prayer being answered when your prayer is spoken according to the Nature and Character, and Will and Purpose of Jesus! Don't pray according to your own carnal, self serving desires, but rather pray as if it is Jesus praying through you!
Guaranteed it will change the way you pray! Now when you say In The Name Of Jesus, Amen it will be impossible to ask amiss as James warns us about in 4:13 "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts."
Okay, so what about praying "In the Name of Jesus? If you are thinking that it is like an incantation that must be recited at the end of every prayer so that God must answer since you are twisting His arm, by citing the Name of His Son..... you could not be further from the truth! And yet, how many prayers have you heard spoken, or how many prayer have you said, where you end by saying "In the Name of Jesus, Amen." and don't really realize why, other than that is the way you have always said it... that is the way everybody does it... so it must be right. Right? I mean, there is even Scripture to back it up right?
Well, there are a few things I would like to say about praying in the Name of Jesus, that I am sure will help the reader to understand more by reading over the last couple posts, since my understanding these things changed my whole Christian walk, and forever changed the way I pray, I think it will be worth it to at least read these, and see if it doesn't also give you some food for thought.
Take this verse for example, (John 14:13,14) And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. Every commentary I read about this verse says that it means asking according to the authority Jesus. One compared it to a police officer saying to stop in the name of the law. But if you have read the previous posts, then you will see that the name of Jesus is more than just what you call Him or the authority His name possesses. The Name of Jesus, is talking about His Nature and Character, and more than that!
Previously, I talked about the Names of God. I explained that each Name of God revealed a certain aspect of God's Nature. I mentioned how that every time God would reveal another aspect of Himself to the children of Israel, that He would declare another Name He could be known by. He would provide for their needs, and then tell them that He is Jehovah-Jihra (the Lord Provides), but that is not the totality of all of who God is. Then, two thousand years ago, for the first time ever God was about to reveal to man Himself in totality in human form.
Check these verses out in Colossians.(1:19) For it pleased [the Father] that in him should all fullness dwell; (2:9) For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Jesus told Phillip, "if you have seen me, you have seen the Father." It wasn't just one or two aspects of God's nature revealed to mankind as in the Old Testament, but rather in Jesus, all of the Fullness of who God is in all of His totality was revealed in human visible form.
Jesus said in John 15:7 "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." I used to believe that this verse meant that if I quoted a lot of Scripture in my praying, then it would mean His words were abiding in me, and I could then pray for what I want, and He would have to answer "according to His word"! I could recite a Santa Claus list of items I wanted, and He would have to answer as long as I finished with saying "In the Name of Jesus, Amen."
There is nothing magical about praying using the name Jesus at the end of your prayer. It is not like saying the name Jesus twists God's arm into doing something He doesn't want to do. But there is a powerful expectation of a prayer being answered when your prayer is spoken according to the Nature and Character, and Will and Purpose of Jesus! Don't pray according to your own carnal, self serving desires, but rather pray as if it is Jesus praying through you!
Guaranteed it will change the way you pray! Now when you say In The Name Of Jesus, Amen it will be impossible to ask amiss as James warns us about in 4:13 "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts."
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Reflecting His Likeness!
Several years ago I wrote a series of essays on the Names of God for a Seminary course I was taking. During that time I discovered a number of things about the meanings behind the different names of God, and also discovered the importance of those differences. The simple fact is that a name is what we use to identify something. We identify something by giving it a name, and often times the name we give something identifies the nature or characteristic of the thing we name. In other words, if we get a dog, that has spots, we might call it..... Ralph..... no kidding, we might call it Spot. I once got a dog that was part Husky, and part Shepard, and it looked like a little baby bear cub, and I called it "Cubby".
Well, God does the same thing when He identifies Himself, and also when He identifies people or places in Scripture. Whenever the nature or character of the person is changed, then the name that identifies them changes with it. Jacob's name changed to Israel is the best example I can think of right away. "[The Man] asked him, What is your name? And [in shock of realization, whispering] he said, Jacob - supplanter, schemer, trickster, swindler! And He said, Your name shall be called no more Jacob [supplanter], but Israel [contender with God]; for you have contended and have power with God and with men, and have prevailed" (Gen. 32 AMP.)
There are many more examples Abram to Abraham; Sarai to Sarah; also Daniel and the other three Hebrews taken in the captivity of Israel by Babylon were given different names during their captivity. Many more examples are found in the Old Testament, and some in the New, such as Saul to Paul; Simon to Peter; on and on it goes.
Names also identify a meaningful place. "and he calleth the name of that place Bethel, (meaning) house of God, and yet, Luz is the name of the city at the first." (Gen. 28:19 YLT)
I think you are getting the point. Don't pass up finding out the meaning of names when ever you are studying Scripture, you will find a wealth of hidden truths behind the reasons those names are used. The same goes with discovering the different names that are used for God.
In Psalm 91 four different names of God are used in the first two verses. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust." (KJV)
The following names for God, and their meanings were copied from this link here: http://www.smilegodlovesyou.org/names.html There is also a very nice music video at their site.
ELOHIM......Genesis 1:1, Psalm 19:1
meaning "God", a reference to God's power and might.
ADONAI......Malachi 1:6
meaning "Lord", a reference to the Lordship of God.
JEHOVAH--YAHWEH.....Genesis 2:4
a reference to God's divine salvation.
JEHOVAH-MACCADDESHEM.......Exodus 31:13
meaning "The Lord thy sanctifier"
JEHOVAH-ROHI......Psalm 23:1
meaning "The Lord my shepherd"
JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH.......Ezekiel 48:35
meaning "The Lord who is present"
JEHOVAH-RAPHA.........Exodus 15:26
meaning "The Lord our healer"
JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU......Jeremiah 23:6
meaning "The Lord our righteousness"
JEHOVAH-JIREH.........Genesis 22:13-14
meaning "The Lord will provide"
JEHOVAH-NISSI.........Exodus 17:15
meaning "The Lord our banner"
JEHOVAH-SHALOM........Judges 6:24
meaning "The Lord is peace"
JEHOVAH-SABBAOTH......Isaiah 6:1-3
meaning "The Lord of Hosts"
JEHOVAH-GMOLAH........Jeremiah 51:6
meaning "The God of Recompense"
EL-ELYON..............Genesis 14:17-20,Isaiah 14:13-14
meaning "The most high God
EL-ROI................Genesis 16:13
meaning "The strong one who sees"
EL-SHADDAI............Genesis 17:1,Psalm 91:1
meaning "The God of the mountains or God Almighty"
EL-OLAM...............Isaiah 40:28-31
meaning "The everlasting God"
Many people confuse the many Names of God, with there being many gods, or as if each Name is the totality of who God is, but each Name of God is used at a particular place and time in Scripture. Each Name identifies a Characteristic of a part of God's nature. No one Name could identify the totality of all of God's Nature. Understanding this fact can help to explain some confusing aspects of Scripture, and also God's interaction with you and others.
Have you ever heard someone say something like "That's not the kind of God I serve!" Or to have someone just emphasise one aspect of the nature of God as if that sums up the whole of God's nature? What about some who talks about the "mother-God". That is partly because the name EL-SHADDAI means "the breasted one"! It is a name that denotes providing nourishment. Well someone who does not understand that EL-SHADDAI is only one of the names of God, can be confused by any other aspect of His nature, that do not involve "mothering".
As I indicated in my last post, that God is Spirit! God created man, (BARA Heb.) meaning cut down or carve out from Himself. His intention was to "reproduce Himself" so to speak. Consider the example used of the ocean to maybe relate some to this. You can go to the ocean and take out from it a cup of water. All that is in the water in the ocean is the same as what is in that cup, but the cup of water is NOT the ocean. So, when God created man from Himself, all the Nature that is within God was contained within man but man is NOT God.
So when it was given to Adam to "name" the animals, or to "nature" them, he was able to draw from within himself from the aspects of his own nature to give to them, and while Adam natured the animals, he also knew that he was not like them. They did not reflect his own likeness. Adam, desired someone who reflected his likeness that same way that God did. This is why God separated the female part from Adam, the womb so to speak (not a rib), and created the womb-man. So that when Adam looked on the woman, he could see his own image in her, in the same way that when God created man, they too would be Reflecting His Likeness.
Well, God does the same thing when He identifies Himself, and also when He identifies people or places in Scripture. Whenever the nature or character of the person is changed, then the name that identifies them changes with it. Jacob's name changed to Israel is the best example I can think of right away. "[The Man] asked him, What is your name? And [in shock of realization, whispering] he said, Jacob - supplanter, schemer, trickster, swindler! And He said, Your name shall be called no more Jacob [supplanter], but Israel [contender with God]; for you have contended and have power with God and with men, and have prevailed" (Gen. 32 AMP.)
There are many more examples Abram to Abraham; Sarai to Sarah; also Daniel and the other three Hebrews taken in the captivity of Israel by Babylon were given different names during their captivity. Many more examples are found in the Old Testament, and some in the New, such as Saul to Paul; Simon to Peter; on and on it goes.
Names also identify a meaningful place. "and he calleth the name of that place Bethel, (meaning) house of God, and yet, Luz is the name of the city at the first." (Gen. 28:19 YLT)
I think you are getting the point. Don't pass up finding out the meaning of names when ever you are studying Scripture, you will find a wealth of hidden truths behind the reasons those names are used. The same goes with discovering the different names that are used for God.
In Psalm 91 four different names of God are used in the first two verses. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust." (KJV)
The following names for God, and their meanings were copied from this link here: http://www.smilegodlovesyou.org/names.html There is also a very nice music video at their site.
ELOHIM......Genesis 1:1, Psalm 19:1
meaning "God", a reference to God's power and might.
ADONAI......Malachi 1:6
meaning "Lord", a reference to the Lordship of God.
JEHOVAH--YAHWEH.....Genesis 2:4
a reference to God's divine salvation.
JEHOVAH-MACCADDESHEM.......Exodus 31:13
meaning "The Lord thy sanctifier"
JEHOVAH-ROHI......Psalm 23:1
meaning "The Lord my shepherd"
JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH.......Ezekiel 48:35
meaning "The Lord who is present"
JEHOVAH-RAPHA.........Exodus 15:26
meaning "The Lord our healer"
JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU......Jeremiah 23:6
meaning "The Lord our righteousness"
JEHOVAH-JIREH.........Genesis 22:13-14
meaning "The Lord will provide"
JEHOVAH-NISSI.........Exodus 17:15
meaning "The Lord our banner"
JEHOVAH-SHALOM........Judges 6:24
meaning "The Lord is peace"
JEHOVAH-SABBAOTH......Isaiah 6:1-3
meaning "The Lord of Hosts"
JEHOVAH-GMOLAH........Jeremiah 51:6
meaning "The God of Recompense"
EL-ELYON..............Genesis 14:17-20,Isaiah 14:13-14
meaning "The most high God
EL-ROI................Genesis 16:13
meaning "The strong one who sees"
EL-SHADDAI............Genesis 17:1,Psalm 91:1
meaning "The God of the mountains or God Almighty"
EL-OLAM...............Isaiah 40:28-31
meaning "The everlasting God"
Many people confuse the many Names of God, with there being many gods, or as if each Name is the totality of who God is, but each Name of God is used at a particular place and time in Scripture. Each Name identifies a Characteristic of a part of God's nature. No one Name could identify the totality of all of God's Nature. Understanding this fact can help to explain some confusing aspects of Scripture, and also God's interaction with you and others.
Have you ever heard someone say something like "That's not the kind of God I serve!" Or to have someone just emphasise one aspect of the nature of God as if that sums up the whole of God's nature? What about some who talks about the "mother-God". That is partly because the name EL-SHADDAI means "the breasted one"! It is a name that denotes providing nourishment. Well someone who does not understand that EL-SHADDAI is only one of the names of God, can be confused by any other aspect of His nature, that do not involve "mothering".
As I indicated in my last post, that God is Spirit! God created man, (BARA Heb.) meaning cut down or carve out from Himself. His intention was to "reproduce Himself" so to speak. Consider the example used of the ocean to maybe relate some to this. You can go to the ocean and take out from it a cup of water. All that is in the water in the ocean is the same as what is in that cup, but the cup of water is NOT the ocean. So, when God created man from Himself, all the Nature that is within God was contained within man but man is NOT God.
So when it was given to Adam to "name" the animals, or to "nature" them, he was able to draw from within himself from the aspects of his own nature to give to them, and while Adam natured the animals, he also knew that he was not like them. They did not reflect his own likeness. Adam, desired someone who reflected his likeness that same way that God did. This is why God separated the female part from Adam, the womb so to speak (not a rib), and created the womb-man. So that when Adam looked on the woman, he could see his own image in her, in the same way that when God created man, they too would be Reflecting His Likeness.
Friday, November 19, 2010
A Great Big Love Story!
Genesis 2:19-20 "And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field;" ... (KJV)
Every web site I looked at that mentioned Adam naming the animals were all focused on the fact that he would have called a lion a lion or a cow a cow, or when he saw a horse he gave it the name horse etc. There were some sites questioning whether Adam had enough time in one day that he was given to be able to name all of the animals, or if he had to name species etc. How many names did Adam have to come up with anyway? Well, if you are satisfied that the point of that verse in Genesis was just to inform us that the reason we call a muskrat a muskrat is because Adam first called a muskrat a muskrat, then it is okay to believe that, but I think there is a much higher spiritual truth to be learned here, and if you are interested in looking a little deeper, then read on.
I am fully convinced that Adam did not just call a dog a dog or a cow a cow, I believe that Adam actually gave each animal their very nature! It is not that a lion was brought before Adam, and that Adam said "I will call that animal 'Lion'". I believe the very nature and character that is possessed by that lion, is one in which Adam determined for that lion to have.
Have you ever heard someone say "He is as sly as a fox," or refer to someone having the "courage of a lion" or people are slothful, eat like pigs, as stubborn as mules, and as busy as beavers scared as rabbits? I believe it is Adam who gave each of those animals their very nature and character. And where did he come up with those characteristics for each of the animals? I believe it was from within himself. Each one of the characteristics and natures that we find animals possess, came from the very nature Adam found within himself!
Why is this important to know? Well, I hope to explore more deeply in future posts the meaning of names, and to show that each name represents a characteristic, and reveals a part of the nature of the thing that is named... most especially God! And most especially Jesus! And knowing this may actually change the way you pray from then on!
But for now consider the fact that Adam "natured" all of the animals, and he got those natures from within himself. Tell me if knowing that changes the way you look at the meaning of the following verse: "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made..." (Gen 3:1) The question you have to ask yourself is who named (natured) the serpent? Where did the serpent get it's subtilness? I believe it came from Adam.
Now, before this actually comes into play, we find a very significant situation arose when Adam named the animals, and he saw that each had a mate. There was a male and a female companion that compared to itself. But for Adam the bible says: "there was not found an help meet for him." (Gen 2:20)
Why is this significant? Well, I believe very strongly that God was showing Adam about His own plan and purpose for creation through his experience, thus showing us if we will take notice. What does the scripture say? "Let us make man in our image, and after our likeness." The reason Adam could not find a mate in the animal kingdom is because he is made in the image of God Himself!
God wanted to reproduce Himself in the earth. He creates Adam (male and female) from Himself. Adam cannot find another like him and it is as if God is expressing His own desire for One like Himself! Adam, can't you see, that just as you desire a mate that compares to yourself, so do I? The bible goes on to say that God put Adam into a deep sleep and took a rib from his side and made the woman.
Well there is plenty of evidence that it was not a rib taken from Adam's chest as you may suppose. Adam was created male and female, and God removed the female part from the male part. This explains Adam's expression "And Adam said, This [is] now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." (Gen 2:23) After this, the first thing God does is unite them back together again as "one flesh".
Do you see the comparison? The bible is one big Love story! God is male and female so to speak, and He creates out from Himself man (male and female); bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh; in a spiritual sense, and thus forms the church which is called "The bride of Christ"! Scripture talks about the "marriage supper of the Lamb". Thus by separating the woman from the man, and then uniting them again to become one flesh
God demonstrates his purpose of uniting creation back unto Himself.
I have spent a lot of time rewording this to try to make it more clear. I am not sure I have accomplished that task. I do feel the need to continue with some of these thoughts later, but for now it is my hearts desire that the Holy Spirit within you will in fact take this feeble attempt of mine and clarify it to your understanding and unfold the mysteries of deep spiritual truths to you, whereby you may see more clearly that indeed God's plan and purpose for creation is One Great Big Love Story... the greatest ever told!
Every web site I looked at that mentioned Adam naming the animals were all focused on the fact that he would have called a lion a lion or a cow a cow, or when he saw a horse he gave it the name horse etc. There were some sites questioning whether Adam had enough time in one day that he was given to be able to name all of the animals, or if he had to name species etc. How many names did Adam have to come up with anyway? Well, if you are satisfied that the point of that verse in Genesis was just to inform us that the reason we call a muskrat a muskrat is because Adam first called a muskrat a muskrat, then it is okay to believe that, but I think there is a much higher spiritual truth to be learned here, and if you are interested in looking a little deeper, then read on.
I am fully convinced that Adam did not just call a dog a dog or a cow a cow, I believe that Adam actually gave each animal their very nature! It is not that a lion was brought before Adam, and that Adam said "I will call that animal 'Lion'". I believe the very nature and character that is possessed by that lion, is one in which Adam determined for that lion to have.
Have you ever heard someone say "He is as sly as a fox," or refer to someone having the "courage of a lion" or people are slothful, eat like pigs, as stubborn as mules, and as busy as beavers scared as rabbits? I believe it is Adam who gave each of those animals their very nature and character. And where did he come up with those characteristics for each of the animals? I believe it was from within himself. Each one of the characteristics and natures that we find animals possess, came from the very nature Adam found within himself!
Why is this important to know? Well, I hope to explore more deeply in future posts the meaning of names, and to show that each name represents a characteristic, and reveals a part of the nature of the thing that is named... most especially God! And most especially Jesus! And knowing this may actually change the way you pray from then on!
But for now consider the fact that Adam "natured" all of the animals, and he got those natures from within himself. Tell me if knowing that changes the way you look at the meaning of the following verse: "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made..." (Gen 3:1) The question you have to ask yourself is who named (natured) the serpent? Where did the serpent get it's subtilness? I believe it came from Adam.
Now, before this actually comes into play, we find a very significant situation arose when Adam named the animals, and he saw that each had a mate. There was a male and a female companion that compared to itself. But for Adam the bible says: "there was not found an help meet for him." (Gen 2:20)
Why is this significant? Well, I believe very strongly that God was showing Adam about His own plan and purpose for creation through his experience, thus showing us if we will take notice. What does the scripture say? "Let us make man in our image, and after our likeness." The reason Adam could not find a mate in the animal kingdom is because he is made in the image of God Himself!
God wanted to reproduce Himself in the earth. He creates Adam (male and female) from Himself. Adam cannot find another like him and it is as if God is expressing His own desire for One like Himself! Adam, can't you see, that just as you desire a mate that compares to yourself, so do I? The bible goes on to say that God put Adam into a deep sleep and took a rib from his side and made the woman.
Well there is plenty of evidence that it was not a rib taken from Adam's chest as you may suppose. Adam was created male and female, and God removed the female part from the male part. This explains Adam's expression "And Adam said, This [is] now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." (Gen 2:23) After this, the first thing God does is unite them back together again as "one flesh".
Do you see the comparison? The bible is one big Love story! God is male and female so to speak, and He creates out from Himself man (male and female); bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh; in a spiritual sense, and thus forms the church which is called "The bride of Christ"! Scripture talks about the "marriage supper of the Lamb". Thus by separating the woman from the man, and then uniting them again to become one flesh
God demonstrates his purpose of uniting creation back unto Himself.
I have spent a lot of time rewording this to try to make it more clear. I am not sure I have accomplished that task. I do feel the need to continue with some of these thoughts later, but for now it is my hearts desire that the Holy Spirit within you will in fact take this feeble attempt of mine and clarify it to your understanding and unfold the mysteries of deep spiritual truths to you, whereby you may see more clearly that indeed God's plan and purpose for creation is One Great Big Love Story... the greatest ever told!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Earn Free Membership
The title sure seems contradictory doesn't it? How can you earn something that is free? Well that was a sign at a gas station brand in Canada a few years back. The promotion was that if you bought gas at that branded station, then a percentage of your cost would go towards paying down your membership at the AAA or technically the CAA (Canadian Auto Assoc.) The idea being that if you bought enough gas there during the year, then you could get a big enough discount that it would cover the cost of your CAA membership, thus they considered that you would have "earned free membership".
One day when I drove into the station to get some gas, I looked at the sign, and the Lord reminded me that many Christians teach Grace the same way! It would be no different than if they put a sign up in front of church buildings that said "Earn Free Grace!" On a side note, I have seen church signs that have the quip "Sign Broken - Message Inside." And I have thought to myself, that I wonder if the message is broken, and the sign is okay instead!
If it is like most churches, that might just be the case. Oh, they may sing "Just as I am", but it is not long after that initial "come to Jesus moment" that the work begins on making you guilty about all of the sin in your life! And it doesn't have to be sin. All it has to be is a list of things that church does not approve of. "Don't smoke, drink or chew, or run with women who do!" Oh, it could be any number of things depending on what brand of church you go to. It is not much different than the gas station, where you can earn enough points to get offered free grace!
If you think I am kidding, then consider any church you want, and find out what it involves to be able to go there, or better yet, be a member there. The first evangelical church I went to after I got saved was a Pentecostal church, and I got an early introduction to "standards" for Christian behavior. I was a magician since I was about ten. I used to perform all kinds of shows, and in my naive youth, I intended to do magic professionally! I eventually had to make a living before I could make a living doing magic. But after becoming a Christian, I found out that certain people objected to certain types of magic. Most especially anything with a deck of cards. You never know when a card trick might just make someone run out and gamble at the poker table!
That is not all. Of course, like most churches, smoking is a big no no, along with drinking of any kind. And they objected to going to the movies, because while you may be going to see a "G" rated movie, someone may see you in line, and think that you are there to see an "R" rated movie, and it would have the appearance of doing wrong that may cause someone else to stumble! ha.
But hey, if they can get you to behave the right way, then you can boast about all the Lord has done for you, since you used to be a dirty rotten sinner, and now you are a clean sinner? Or would you boast about how much you have done to earn your free grace?
The funny thing is that I went to that church for about seven years. The Lord used that time to teach me many things. Like I said before; sometimes God will lead you into places, in order to teach you things you could not learn anyway else; and sometimes so when He brings you out, you can lead others out.
I was thinking today about how some churches are like a spiritual funeral parlor. As a matter of fact, that Pentecostal church I went to was a converted funeral parlor! Come to think of it, I wonder if it still wasn't a kind of funeral parlor. You know how when someone dies, they dress them up in fancy clothes, they try to preserve the body, and will put makeup, and whatever is needed to make them still look life like. The weird part is that I have not been to a lot of funerals, but none of the dead bodies I have seen look very lifelike to me! They look like creepy dead bodies.
Well, how different is that then some churches? Don't you know that your old man is dead? Adam was put to death on the cross! Jesus was the LAST Adam, and the SECOND Man. (oh there is a lot just in that statement) But most Christians are so busy with trying to patch up Adam. They are trying to fix up the old man, and dress it up, and put make up on it, and appear to give it life. Make Adam behave himself! Subject this dead man to obeying the Law! Did you know what the word Blessing in the Greek means? Here it is in part from the Strong's concordance "2129. eulogia yoo-log-ee'-ah from the same as 2127; fine speaking, i.e. elegance of language; commendation ("eulogy")"
Well it is about time the Church pronounces a eulogy over the Adamic man and begins to realize that we are saved by Grace! Grace! And ONLY HIS GRACE! Not one single thing can you add to it! Nothing you can do to take away from it. Every effort you make to add to your salvation by your own self discipline, so that you can make yourself more pleasing to God, is as the bible calls it "filthy rags", which translates as menstrual cloth! (which is a whole other symbolic spiritual meaning In short; it is lifeless blood, unable to reproduce life, which is the same as religion. Only the blood of Jesus has life enough to reproduce life.)
Even your faith to believe is not your own! It is His gift to you! God gives you faith to believe. So you can't even boast that you believe while others do not, as if your believing was your own doing! You are not saved because you believe, you believe because you are saved! You can no sooner choose to believe in God, than the man in the coffin can choose to scratch their nose!
The idea that some would say that they chose to accept Jesus into their heart. They chose to believe in God. "I have decided to follow Jesus!" the song goes, and yet it is a lie. You did not decide anything. It is all His Grace bestowed upon you, and it is Free, and there is nothing you can do to Earn it! You are a NEW creation in Christ Jesus. He came to give you Life (zoe GK.) more abundantly!
Okay, then if it is all up to God, then what about the people you know who died and did not believe in Jesus? If God is the one who supplies the grace for salvation, and the faith to believe; if you cannot believe other than He gives you that believing faith first, then what about all those people who died and who did not believe?
Good question..... Keep reading future posts for the answer!
One day when I drove into the station to get some gas, I looked at the sign, and the Lord reminded me that many Christians teach Grace the same way! It would be no different than if they put a sign up in front of church buildings that said "Earn Free Grace!" On a side note, I have seen church signs that have the quip "Sign Broken - Message Inside." And I have thought to myself, that I wonder if the message is broken, and the sign is okay instead!
If it is like most churches, that might just be the case. Oh, they may sing "Just as I am", but it is not long after that initial "come to Jesus moment" that the work begins on making you guilty about all of the sin in your life! And it doesn't have to be sin. All it has to be is a list of things that church does not approve of. "Don't smoke, drink or chew, or run with women who do!" Oh, it could be any number of things depending on what brand of church you go to. It is not much different than the gas station, where you can earn enough points to get offered free grace!
If you think I am kidding, then consider any church you want, and find out what it involves to be able to go there, or better yet, be a member there. The first evangelical church I went to after I got saved was a Pentecostal church, and I got an early introduction to "standards" for Christian behavior. I was a magician since I was about ten. I used to perform all kinds of shows, and in my naive youth, I intended to do magic professionally! I eventually had to make a living before I could make a living doing magic. But after becoming a Christian, I found out that certain people objected to certain types of magic. Most especially anything with a deck of cards. You never know when a card trick might just make someone run out and gamble at the poker table!
That is not all. Of course, like most churches, smoking is a big no no, along with drinking of any kind. And they objected to going to the movies, because while you may be going to see a "G" rated movie, someone may see you in line, and think that you are there to see an "R" rated movie, and it would have the appearance of doing wrong that may cause someone else to stumble! ha.
But hey, if they can get you to behave the right way, then you can boast about all the Lord has done for you, since you used to be a dirty rotten sinner, and now you are a clean sinner? Or would you boast about how much you have done to earn your free grace?
The funny thing is that I went to that church for about seven years. The Lord used that time to teach me many things. Like I said before; sometimes God will lead you into places, in order to teach you things you could not learn anyway else; and sometimes so when He brings you out, you can lead others out.
I was thinking today about how some churches are like a spiritual funeral parlor. As a matter of fact, that Pentecostal church I went to was a converted funeral parlor! Come to think of it, I wonder if it still wasn't a kind of funeral parlor. You know how when someone dies, they dress them up in fancy clothes, they try to preserve the body, and will put makeup, and whatever is needed to make them still look life like. The weird part is that I have not been to a lot of funerals, but none of the dead bodies I have seen look very lifelike to me! They look like creepy dead bodies.
Well, how different is that then some churches? Don't you know that your old man is dead? Adam was put to death on the cross! Jesus was the LAST Adam, and the SECOND Man. (oh there is a lot just in that statement) But most Christians are so busy with trying to patch up Adam. They are trying to fix up the old man, and dress it up, and put make up on it, and appear to give it life. Make Adam behave himself! Subject this dead man to obeying the Law! Did you know what the word Blessing in the Greek means? Here it is in part from the Strong's concordance "2129. eulogia yoo-log-ee'-ah from the same as 2127; fine speaking, i.e. elegance of language; commendation ("eulogy")"
Well it is about time the Church pronounces a eulogy over the Adamic man and begins to realize that we are saved by Grace! Grace! And ONLY HIS GRACE! Not one single thing can you add to it! Nothing you can do to take away from it. Every effort you make to add to your salvation by your own self discipline, so that you can make yourself more pleasing to God, is as the bible calls it "filthy rags", which translates as menstrual cloth! (which is a whole other symbolic spiritual meaning In short; it is lifeless blood, unable to reproduce life, which is the same as religion. Only the blood of Jesus has life enough to reproduce life.)
Even your faith to believe is not your own! It is His gift to you! God gives you faith to believe. So you can't even boast that you believe while others do not, as if your believing was your own doing! You are not saved because you believe, you believe because you are saved! You can no sooner choose to believe in God, than the man in the coffin can choose to scratch their nose!
The idea that some would say that they chose to accept Jesus into their heart. They chose to believe in God. "I have decided to follow Jesus!" the song goes, and yet it is a lie. You did not decide anything. It is all His Grace bestowed upon you, and it is Free, and there is nothing you can do to Earn it! You are a NEW creation in Christ Jesus. He came to give you Life (zoe GK.) more abundantly!
Okay, then if it is all up to God, then what about the people you know who died and did not believe in Jesus? If God is the one who supplies the grace for salvation, and the faith to believe; if you cannot believe other than He gives you that believing faith first, then what about all those people who died and who did not believe?
Good question..... Keep reading future posts for the answer!
Monday, November 15, 2010
News Flash!
Seasoned Skydiver Learns to Stay in Airplane
Lock Haven, PA, 14 November 2010 – Keith McAndrew, an experienced sport parachutist originally from Ontario, Canada, today completed the first half of his training to become a licensed pilot, at AvSport of Lock Haven, the sport aviation training center recently established at Piper Memorial Airport. Under the supervision of Prof. H. Paul Shuch, AvSport’s chief flight instructor, McAndrew, 53, who began flight instruction in August, flew the school’s Light Sport trainer aircraft four times around the Lock Haven traffic pattern as the plane’s sole occupant.
“There was never any question that Keith had acquired all the requisite skills to safely complete his first solo flight,” reports Shuch. “His takeoffs, landings, maneuvers, and radio procedures are flawless. My only concern was that, as Pilot In Command, he might need to be reminded to stay in the plane, rather than practicing his skydiving techniques.”
The Sport Pilot license is the newest portal of entry into the world of aviation, allowing prospective pilots to become licensed in half the time, and at half the cost, of the traditional Private Pilot license. Sport pilots fly for fun, and are restricted to flying simple, low performance aircraft that comply with the Light Sport rule. They are allowed to fly in uncongested airspace, during daylight hours, and only in good weather conditions.
Upon completion of the initial solo flight, Shuch cut a large piece out of McAndrew’s shirt, and autographed it to mark the occasion. This ritual dates back to the Golden Age of aviation, when barnstormers frequently had to patch rips in their fabric-covered aircraft with pieces of their own garments.
Although a permanent US resident, McAndrew is still a Canadian citizen, which delayed his flight training. The US Transportation Security Administration closely scrutinizes all foreign nationals who seek to learn to fly in the US. His TSA approvals took Keith about a month.
While continuing to review basic flight maneuvers with his instructor, McAndrew will next be studying for his FAA written pilot’s examination. Then, he will embark on crosscountry flight training, leading up to his venturing farther afield on his own. His training will culminate in preparations for his Federal Aviation Administration practical test, consisting of both oral exams and a checkride with an FAA designated pilot examiner, prior to receipt of his pilot’s license.
Piper Memorial Airport is the ancestral home to the legendary Piper Cub, arguably the world’s first sport plane. Modern Light Sport aircraft allow pilots to recapture the bygone fly for- fun Cub era, with increased reliability and improved safety.
DOWNLOADABLE PHOTO: http://www.avsport.org/photos/students/Keith_solo.jpg
CAPTION: Student pilot Keith McAndrew relaxes in the local flight school’s trainer aircraft, after successful completion of his first solo flight at AvSport of Lock Haven.
Lock Haven, PA, 14 November 2010 – Keith McAndrew, an experienced sport parachutist originally from Ontario, Canada, today completed the first half of his training to become a licensed pilot, at AvSport of Lock Haven, the sport aviation training center recently established at Piper Memorial Airport. Under the supervision of Prof. H. Paul Shuch, AvSport’s chief flight instructor, McAndrew, 53, who began flight instruction in August, flew the school’s Light Sport trainer aircraft four times around the Lock Haven traffic pattern as the plane’s sole occupant.
“There was never any question that Keith had acquired all the requisite skills to safely complete his first solo flight,” reports Shuch. “His takeoffs, landings, maneuvers, and radio procedures are flawless. My only concern was that, as Pilot In Command, he might need to be reminded to stay in the plane, rather than practicing his skydiving techniques.”
The Sport Pilot license is the newest portal of entry into the world of aviation, allowing prospective pilots to become licensed in half the time, and at half the cost, of the traditional Private Pilot license. Sport pilots fly for fun, and are restricted to flying simple, low performance aircraft that comply with the Light Sport rule. They are allowed to fly in uncongested airspace, during daylight hours, and only in good weather conditions.
Upon completion of the initial solo flight, Shuch cut a large piece out of McAndrew’s shirt, and autographed it to mark the occasion. This ritual dates back to the Golden Age of aviation, when barnstormers frequently had to patch rips in their fabric-covered aircraft with pieces of their own garments.
Although a permanent US resident, McAndrew is still a Canadian citizen, which delayed his flight training. The US Transportation Security Administration closely scrutinizes all foreign nationals who seek to learn to fly in the US. His TSA approvals took Keith about a month.
While continuing to review basic flight maneuvers with his instructor, McAndrew will next be studying for his FAA written pilot’s examination. Then, he will embark on crosscountry flight training, leading up to his venturing farther afield on his own. His training will culminate in preparations for his Federal Aviation Administration practical test, consisting of both oral exams and a checkride with an FAA designated pilot examiner, prior to receipt of his pilot’s license.
Piper Memorial Airport is the ancestral home to the legendary Piper Cub, arguably the world’s first sport plane. Modern Light Sport aircraft allow pilots to recapture the bygone fly for- fun Cub era, with increased reliability and improved safety.
DOWNLOADABLE PHOTO: http://www.avsport.org/photos/students/Keith_solo.jpg
CAPTION: Student pilot Keith McAndrew relaxes in the local flight school’s trainer aircraft, after successful completion of his first solo flight at AvSport of Lock Haven.
Take-Offs Are Optional
Since the title of this blog is "On A Human Journey" I thought that I would like to use this post for more of the human journey part and share a recent personal experience.
In my last post on Sat. Nov. 13/10 I wrote this: "Tomorrow is iffy for the weather conditions, and so if I was running the universe, I would at least make the airspace in the Lock Haven Pa. area perfect flying conditions, especially for tomorrow!"
Well, little did I realize that in spite of the fact that I do not run the universe, and that there were overcast conditions, the One who does run the universe made sure the weather was flyable, and because of that, after my practicing take off and landings, and a few emergency procedures, I was taken by surprise when my instructor asked me if I wanted to go do that by myself! I was not prepared for him to ask me, and I almost said no! I asked him if he was serious? And apparently he was, so a feeble "Okay, I think so." is what came out of my mouth.
That is a major milestone in a pilot's training! It is the very first time that you are the only person in the airplane, and every decision is your own to make, and the instructor is not there to keep you from making a mistake! It is something I have been itching to do for a long time, and I was psyched to do it Saturday, but when I could not, I figured it would have to wait a couple weeks, and so I was psyched out, when he asked me on Sunday!
My legs turned to jelly, and my heart was pounding, and adrenaline was pumping! We had to go in the office to be able to take care of some paperwork first. He had to endorse my log book, etc. mean while I paced the floor a bit, and tried to shake off the he-bee-gee-bees! I then decided to go sit in the plane, and get comfortable for a few minutes, before I taxied to the runway for takeoff.
One of the thoughts that crossed my mind was something I have heard often in the last few months. Take offs are optional, but landings are manditory! It is usually related to weather, but it could be for any reason that a pilot does not feel comfortable enough to fly. Too tired, not feeling well, winds are squirrely etc. Every pilot has to have a mental checklist of a go or no go decision point. It is something that will serve me well during my flying career, but this day favored the go decision, and I am glad that it did.
Once I was at the hold short line lined up to pull on to the runway, I then seemed to be able to calm down, and focus on the task at hand. It just meant doing the same things I just did perfectly several times already. But there is something about how sensitive you become to every single little detail of what is happening the first time you apply full power and start down the runway! The plane takes off quicker since there is less weight in the plane! The controls react a little differently, but all of my senses were on high alert!
A solo involves doing three take off and landings. You just climb up to altitude, and fly a rectangular pattern, and then descend, back onto the runway. That's the tricky part! Every landing is just a little bit different than the one before, and it involves a certain finesse to make it smooth and soft. It just so happened that I accomplished that milestone in my training. I won't go into all the details of my solo, it would take too long to describe for the purpose of this blog posting anyway.
Now it is on to the next phase which involves flying to other airports, as well as learning more techniques to flying situations a pilot may encounter. There is still a written test, and a final oral test, and practical flying test with an examiner before I can become certified, but it is that much closer to becoming a reality.
Earlier in my training, with there being so many delays, and causing me a lot of frustrations thinking it was taking so long etc. I wondered if I would give up and quit. I finally came to the conclusion that in 12 months I would be a year older than I am now. The fact is that I could either be a year older with or without a pilot's license! I chose to be a year older with a pilot's license.
As it so happens, the instructor takes a picture of each student and also submits an article that he writes to the local newspaper, and leaves it to them if they want to print it or not. I do not know if they did, but I do have a copy of the article that he wrote, and I will post it next.
I still have many spiritual insights that I am anxious to share, but I do think that the cyber airwaves have enough room left for me to indulge my experience, about the three optional take offs that resulted in the three mandatory but successful landings!
In my last post on Sat. Nov. 13/10 I wrote this: "Tomorrow is iffy for the weather conditions, and so if I was running the universe, I would at least make the airspace in the Lock Haven Pa. area perfect flying conditions, especially for tomorrow!"
Well, little did I realize that in spite of the fact that I do not run the universe, and that there were overcast conditions, the One who does run the universe made sure the weather was flyable, and because of that, after my practicing take off and landings, and a few emergency procedures, I was taken by surprise when my instructor asked me if I wanted to go do that by myself! I was not prepared for him to ask me, and I almost said no! I asked him if he was serious? And apparently he was, so a feeble "Okay, I think so." is what came out of my mouth.
That is a major milestone in a pilot's training! It is the very first time that you are the only person in the airplane, and every decision is your own to make, and the instructor is not there to keep you from making a mistake! It is something I have been itching to do for a long time, and I was psyched to do it Saturday, but when I could not, I figured it would have to wait a couple weeks, and so I was psyched out, when he asked me on Sunday!
My legs turned to jelly, and my heart was pounding, and adrenaline was pumping! We had to go in the office to be able to take care of some paperwork first. He had to endorse my log book, etc. mean while I paced the floor a bit, and tried to shake off the he-bee-gee-bees! I then decided to go sit in the plane, and get comfortable for a few minutes, before I taxied to the runway for takeoff.
One of the thoughts that crossed my mind was something I have heard often in the last few months. Take offs are optional, but landings are manditory! It is usually related to weather, but it could be for any reason that a pilot does not feel comfortable enough to fly. Too tired, not feeling well, winds are squirrely etc. Every pilot has to have a mental checklist of a go or no go decision point. It is something that will serve me well during my flying career, but this day favored the go decision, and I am glad that it did.
Once I was at the hold short line lined up to pull on to the runway, I then seemed to be able to calm down, and focus on the task at hand. It just meant doing the same things I just did perfectly several times already. But there is something about how sensitive you become to every single little detail of what is happening the first time you apply full power and start down the runway! The plane takes off quicker since there is less weight in the plane! The controls react a little differently, but all of my senses were on high alert!
A solo involves doing three take off and landings. You just climb up to altitude, and fly a rectangular pattern, and then descend, back onto the runway. That's the tricky part! Every landing is just a little bit different than the one before, and it involves a certain finesse to make it smooth and soft. It just so happened that I accomplished that milestone in my training. I won't go into all the details of my solo, it would take too long to describe for the purpose of this blog posting anyway.
Now it is on to the next phase which involves flying to other airports, as well as learning more techniques to flying situations a pilot may encounter. There is still a written test, and a final oral test, and practical flying test with an examiner before I can become certified, but it is that much closer to becoming a reality.
Earlier in my training, with there being so many delays, and causing me a lot of frustrations thinking it was taking so long etc. I wondered if I would give up and quit. I finally came to the conclusion that in 12 months I would be a year older than I am now. The fact is that I could either be a year older with or without a pilot's license! I chose to be a year older with a pilot's license.
As it so happens, the instructor takes a picture of each student and also submits an article that he writes to the local newspaper, and leaves it to them if they want to print it or not. I do not know if they did, but I do have a copy of the article that he wrote, and I will post it next.
I still have many spiritual insights that I am anxious to share, but I do think that the cyber airwaves have enough room left for me to indulge my experience, about the three optional take offs that resulted in the three mandatory but successful landings!
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