Tragedy

Tragedy strikes everywhere, there is no place safe in the most generic of terms. If a disaster doesn't kill you old age will. These are the cold, hard facts of our existence. So the way we meet our end should not be our greatest concern, where we spend the eternity that follows should be the concern of greater weight.
That being said, one thing I have noticed in the wake of the recent devastation in Japan is the dignity of the Japanese people! No looting was reported even in the areas where no food could be found. I heard one reporter, an American who lives in Japan, say that He and others were wondering the streets looking for an open store to buy food,  none could be found so they would wait until food was made available to them. What ! A people group that doesn't think it is their right to break in and steal when law and order is disrupted?
 I will admit that I was not at all surprised at the honorable conduct of the Japanese people.When I was a young Marine I spent six months stationed at Okinawa and the culture was indeed different, not void of crime but the people had an honorable way about them. We were warned soon after we arrived on the Island that if we got into trouble in town, off the military base, we would be in trouble with the local authority's and would probably receive no assistance from any U.S. authority. Of course some would have to try this warning to check its validity and some may still be there in a Japanese prison eating fish heads and rice. A gentle, humble people but if you were a thief or worse they would not hesitate to exact punishment on the guilty.
No dought the Japanese will recover from this tragic event and do it with class and hard work. The story has been the tragedy,  but News organizations will do well to follow their recovery. Maybe we could learn a  valuable lesson in conduct following a disaster.   I certainly hope that people around the world will take special notice of the courage and honor of the Japanese people. My prayers are with them.

The Last Days of Europe

Baptism

The issue of baptism has been a source of contention in Christian circles for hundreds of years and it ought not be so. Jesus when preaching the Kingdom of God saved His biggest criticism for the religious leaders of the day who would strain at a knat and swallow a camel. He preached that the Kingdom would not be found in the law but rather with an understanding of truth and grace. Mercy would be the key, not legalizing the spirit of God through ritual. Circumcism was the Old Testament equivalent to Baptism in the New
Testament church. A sign of the covenant with His called out people who make up the Church, His Church.                   

 In the book of Hebrews chapter eleven we learn that faith was counted for righteousness to so many who came before, will they not partake in the resurrection in the last day? Circumcism was not even established when God made covenant with Abraham, will he be left out ? Baptism is the obligation of all believers and of that you will find little debate among most Christians, but when you make it a pre-requiste of gaining eternal life you lose all credibility with those who know God and His word. For every example one may try to make for that being true one can counter with another example of why it is not true. Why the debate over something that takes place after repentance and a confession of faith in Christ, again it is the obligation for the believer and I have never met the legitimately saved refuse such a honor as to be baptized into a new life in Christ but to say that if you die on the way to the lake you missed heaven by twenty minutes is just not Biblical Christianity.

Don't want to get bogged down in a war of scripture but I will make mention of one, okay two compelling scriptures found in the book of Acts, chapter 19 vs.1-7 Paul comes across some Christians who had not even heard of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and to that point only received John's baptism of repentance, they were willing and Paul layed hands on them and were baptized into "the name of the Lord Jesus" and spoke in touges being filled with the Holy Spirit, now in Acts chapter 10 vs. 44-46 Peter was sent by the Lord to a God fearing gentile and while preaching to them of the truth about Jesus they were baptized with the Holy Spirit. Peter then said can anyone keep them from being baptized with water ? Now can you tell me how in the world are you gonna be baptized with the Holy Spirit and if you can't make it to some water you are gonna miss out, or what about those who were baptized with water but not the Holy Spirit were they not yet saved ?

So is it only water baptism that closes the deal, or is it the baptism of the Holy Spirit, or the baptism that Jesus told His disciples He would endure in the book of Mark chapter 10 vs.38-39. Jesus was asked, how do we work the works of God, He replied, believe on Him who He sent, John 6:29. People will continue the debate but John 11:25 gives the answer to the question clearly. The thief on the cross did not come down and get baptized and Jesus told him he would be with Him in paradise, the idea that because it was before the death of Christ has no relevance, they were baptizing with water prior to His death and after so why did it all of a sudden become a deal breaker if you didn't get to water, cause of course it has to be immersion and they lived in a desert climate so just to make it harder I guess.

People are so afraid that someone is gonna slip by and get in Heaven without some ritual to prove to THEM that they really are saved, don't worry I think Jesus has got it covered.

God would never do that !

Proverbs 16:4 says, " The Lord has made all things for Himself, Yes even the wicked for the day of doom." We often create the impression that God is weak,  one that is so soft and loving that if anything bad happens we tend to think that there is no-way God had anything to do with it. My Pastor use to say we think God is some big teddy bear with a lolly pop in one hand and an ice cream cone in the other. And often times it is "Christians" who give this false impression of the Almighty. Is God love? More than you can imagine, but God is also just and you will not understand the full extent of His love if you don't also realize that God is worthy of executing judgment on all man kind. We deserve Hell and instead He gave us Jesus, make no mis-take He did not have to do this, God being God could have blew the whole thing up and started over again. But while we were still yet sinners He died for us and paid the price in full,  but we come on His terms, I've heard it said, "well, thats arrogant!" yea well, He's God. In our country we have become spoiled thinking we deserve everything, law suit after frivilous law suit proves it, my coffee was too hot, they hurt my feelings, whatever, with this attitude we will never understand who we are in the sight of a Holy God . We are sinner's and yet He is paitent with us not giving us what we deserve, and for those who come to Jesus understanding that yes I am un-worthy He covers us in Christ.  John the Baptist called all of man to repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand, He was the front runnner to Jesus starting His ministry, this call has not changed, we need to accept the salvation offered to us in Jesus or suffer the wrath of God. Two cults that I have recently studied do away with this truth, saying there is no eternal consequence for rejecting Jesus, who gave Himself for all man kind, easy for them to say it wasn't them who gave up thier Son to be beaten and hung on a tree for a bunch of rebellious un-grateful people. It is good for attracting a large following  and that translates into big dollars for them, but does not get you saved.  The bible say's that every knee shall bow and every tounge confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father.  Every knee that means you, me, everybody will bow the knee at somepoint, make sure it is now, cause when you die and do it then it's too late. The Bible says that all have fallen short the Glory of God, all are sinners there is non righteous no not one, we have all gone astray like sheep but He will save you if you call out to Him and  admit the reality of your situtation. Why is this so important? God hates pride, it got Satan kicked out of Heaven. Say you see a beggar on the street and you have compassion on him and offer him a bolony sandwich and he responds with, "I want roast beef ." Sorry but that cat can go hungry. Don't misunderstand the analogy, Jesus is Prime Rib and He offers you the best God has to offer, but when one feels they dont need to be forgiven and they are "good enough" they will stand before God on the day of judgment alone and then The Almighty will call you to task and I promise you will not stand up to the requirements. Put it this way, you would have to beat Jesus in a round of golf and He will shoot an 18 on an 18 hole course, so in comparision Tiger Woods sucks. God doesn't judge on a curve its not a matter of par, God accepts only perfection and Jesus fuffiled that requirement and say's you can come with me.  Reach out and take it humbly, it's the only chance we have.  

Mormons Preach A Different Jesus Christ.

John 14:6

Jesus says in John 14:6 "I am the way,the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." This is clear and to the point, that is why it is so important to expose those who change the truth of this scripture to fit their own personal opinions. And worse yet, try and convince others to follow them. True Christianity points to Jesus, not doctrine. Never follow a person who claims to possess some new way to follow Jesus, in the book of Ecclesiastes it say's there is nothing new under the sun. Jesus is not new He was in the Beginning,in the book of the Revelation Jesus says "I am the alpha and omega" the beginning and the end. Because you or someone else thinks they have a better way doesn't give them the right to change what has been written and make it more attractive to people by omitting the reality of eternal punishment which is what some of the biggest cults do. The reality is this is not love, rather it is a Satanic. Jesus called Satan the father of lies, and all who change the truth of God are in league with him and are doing what he wants to do and that's keeping you from the truth. Jesus is not hiding from people, the opposite is true we hide from Him, we are afraid of the truth in us that will be exposed. The good news is that He knows these things about us and is willing to forgive us and restore us to a place without fear, but make no mistake it is on His terms. What does God accept ? Humble surrender to the truth, the truth that we are guilty of death because we are indeed sinful and need a savior. And because God is sooo good He provided that for you as well in Jesus, nothing else will do. That's right nothing, not a watered down Jesus,  giving money to the poor, taking mission trips or voting republican. All must come to the knowledge that the disciple Thomas came to when he confessed "My Lord and My God" that moment of understanding can be your story as well. Jesus said," knock and the door will be opened for you " in other words seek Him and the Spirit will lead you into all truth. Who is the Spirit, part of the Trinity, The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit. The cults destroy this doctrine out of ignorance because it defies all human logic and reason and then have the impossible task of making it work without this truth and it ends up with correction after correction and in some cases a whole other book. The truth is that not all will receive the teaching of Jesus, and it is truly sad but sympathy doesn't trump truth. I will continue to show the difference between Biblical Christianity and many other beliefs, it will no dought create some strife but Jesus said they hated Me first and if you carry His truth they will hate you as well, so go ahead Ive been warned.

A look at the Mormons

In studying the Mormon religion after looking at the Jehovah witness' the winner goes to the Mormons for being the more ridiculous of the two. I will begin with some back ground on this group, they were started by a mere mortal by the name of Joseph Smith Jr. who after a couple of angelic visitations and visions claimed to be given a new revelation to the truth of the Holy scriptures. The first vision, according to Mormon history, happened when a revival broke out in Palmyra, New York 1820 and a young Joseph Smith Jr. confused by the people all claiming a different sect as the one to follow Methodist,Baptist and so on, led him to inquire of the Lord as to which to follow. He claims that during this inquiry of God that a being appeared to him, at age 15, that he was not to follow any of these for they were all wrong and they were all an abomination in his sight even using scripture from the New Testament writings to make this point to young Smith. In 2nd Corinthians 11:14 it tells us that Satan transforms himself into an angel of light so the idea that Smith did receive a visit is not unbelievable to me, in fact I think it probably happened but it was not God. The fact that the "being" used scripture to make his point reminds me of when Satan tried tempting Jesus in the desert but  it did not work with Him, unfortunately in Smiths' case it did. Smith moved in with his father-in-law after the second vision he received in September of 1823. In that vision he was told of these gold plates that he had to get at a place the "being" would show him. He began to translate the gold plates with, by his account,Divine help and then published the translation, which was financed by a farmer who he told the writings were "reformed Egyptian."  April 6, 1930 in Fayette, New York "the church of Jesus Christ" was officially organized with 6 members the name was eventually changed to the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The membership grew quickly and started moving around. The group met with a lot of adversity which led to Smith creating an army of about 200 men at one point, Smith was arrested with his brother Hyrum after having a press destroyed for publishing anti-Mormon material and was killed along with his brother by a mob who stormed the jail, according to Mormon history he did not go down without a fight. Brigham Young  took leadership after that and eventually ended up in Utah. The Mormons reject the doctrine of the Trinity as well as eternal punishment. Jesus to them is just the same as anyone else, just another pre-existing soul with the chance to achieve what Jesus did. Although with the works based salvation that they preach why do you need a savior at all ? And who cares really, there is no hell according to the Mormons. But what they do offer to the best of their clan is the chance to advance to god like status which comes with a whole host of perks to include rule and reign over your own planet someday with a host of heavenly wives,but you can start the hIran here and now. Sorry they really go off the deep end, they have had like 3000 revisions to their doctrine in their relatively short history why because they are changing with the times and the Bible of historic Christianity says God is the same yesterday, today and forever. These cults all have the same common thread they don't dig what the bible says so they change it to accommodate what they want it to be like or what they feel it should be like. I could write pages on examples of all the little wrongs but why, after you take Jesus from His rightful place and put him in with the masses your jacked already. The rest after that matters little.They believe in what they call "the living prophet" who is the head of the church and transfers from leader to leader as they die off. This "living prophet" has the power to change anything at any time, in February of 1980 at Brigham Young university, Ezra Taft Benson said,"the living prophet is more vital to us than the standard works" this meaning the existing written works of doctrine. I would also point to one important failed prophesy, Smith said the temple would be built in Zion (Jackson county,Missouri) during his generation and never be moved, not only did it not happen, while he was declaring this from Kirkland, Ohio his cult was being run out of town and his printing presses destroyed, of coarse on learning this he changed the prophesy a little and it still didn't happen. In today's small world of instant knowledge this cult would not have lasted a year, but now that it is established no one cares to challenge its claims, after all they are not hurting anyone and they are generally nice people. But if they are spreading a lie that has eternal consequence they need to be called out and exposed. I don't have nearly the anger at other religions that don't claim Jesus and the Holy Bible as there authority, if you want to start a religion go ahead but don't pervert the truth about the Christian God to do it.    

Ahmadinejad: islam will conquer the world

Rich Mullins - Creed

Calling out the cults

Khilafah (Caliphate); The Means to Establish Islam on Earth

To establish moral law according to the Koran is the goal. No thanks.

Appeasing Islam

Jehovah's Witness a false prophet

    What do David Koresh of the Brach Davidians, Jim Jones of the Peoples Temple, Wayne Bent of the Lord our Righteousness Church and Charles Taze Russell of the Jehovah's Witness have in common? All are false prophets. In the book of Deuteronomy 18:21,22 it speaks of the people concerned about those who say that they hear from God and how to test them, well it was made quite clear that if these "prophets" made a claim and it did not come to pass then then the Lord has not spoken. In 1891 Charles Taze Russell wrote that the world would see "the full establishment of the Kingdom of God in the earth at A.D. 1914, the terminus of the time of the gentiles." These predictions failed. They say now that they meant that His kingdom would be fully established in heaven, okay whatever. More credibility would have been given if they would have just said they were wrong, but rather they choose to continue the lie.The scripture is very clear on this prophesy concerning the Lords return and the end times, in the book of Mark 13:32 it says "But of the day and hour NO ONE KNOWS, neither the angels in Heaven nor the Son, but only the Father." Any honest seeker of God would recognize this as a definite truth, and if ever you "felt" you had some time line in your head you could instantly identify this as deception. Renounce it and get about the business of serving God in the capacity in which you have been instructed. The Bible tells us also in Mark 13:6 "For many will come in my Name, saying 'I am He,' and will deceive many and warns us in verse 21 if any one tells you "here is the Christ or He is there" do not believe it. In Matthew 24 it is made very clear that during Christs' return you will not need someone to point it out to you, all will see. As Christians we are to be proclaiming His truth not the ideas about which we think it should be and manipulating the scriptures to fit our theology. A good friend told me of a analogy about a drunk leaning on a lamp post, the post is not there to keep the drunk from falling to the ground it is there to illuminate the way in which we are to travel. In the same way the Bible is not here to uphold our thoughts but rather to bring us into an understanding of His truth.  The Jehovah witness cult differs from Bibical Christianity on multiple important doctrines including eternal judgement, the Trinty and salvation.The Bible tells us that " My people perish from a lack of knowledge," we must know what it is we believe and why we believe it or be subject to confusion when these people show up at our front door with a smile and a copy of Watch Tower magazine. Let us help them to understand that they to can know truth and be saved instead of spreading a false doctrine that leads to death.

Exposing Jehovahs Witness

   The official name is The Watch tower Bible and tract society. They believe themselves to be the only true witness of Gods truth and Jehovah is one of many names used for God,so hench the name Jehovahs' witness. The name Jehovah is a hybrid of the names Adonai and Yahweh created from medieval Christian Hebrew scholars,Jews never used the name in reference to God. In 1879 Charles Taze Russel from outside Pittsburgh ,Pennsylvania founded the Zion's Watchtower magazine and the religion has grown ever since and now has millions of followers. If your knowledge of the scripture is lacking they can confuse you with their translation of the Bible called The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.This translation was introduced as N.W.T of the Christian Greek scripture Aug.2 1950, and in 1961 was given the above name when it was published as a single volume to include the entire Bible.The translation is less than honest in its translation from Greek to English, they claim it to be a literal translation word for word. Dr. William Barclay a leading Greek scholar said,"It is abundantly clear that a sect that can translate the New Testament like that is intellectually dishonest."  Dr.Bruce M. Metzger Prof. of  the New Testament at Princeton University calls the N.W.T. " a frightful mistranslation,erroneous and reprehensible" and again Dr. Julius Mantey author of  A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament calls it "a shocking mistranslation..." This "translation" has undergone a number of revisions in its history at the hands of their own leadership the latest being in 1984. The Holy Trinity is not easily understood to say that I have my head completely wrapped around it would be a lie but I can read what the scripture says and accept it or not, but I don't have the rite to change it. Jesus said, "I am the way,  the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by Me." What we believe about Jesus has eternal consequence.  When you have a religion who claims to offer the truth about God and His word but change it to make it fit what they think it should say,  you end up with a cult.  Whether they do this knowingly or not is not important,  however the truth about Jesus is. One scripture I would point out is  John 1:1 which reads " In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God." In the New World Translation it reads  " and the word was A god" they deliberately change this to carry out their mission to deny the Deity of Jesus making Him less than what the disciple Thomas eventually confessed in John 20:28, "my Lord and my God." The fact that Jesus did not rebuke him is important, if Jesus was not God He would have corrected Thomas but He did not.Their are many scriptures that point to this all important fact and I will continue to show these in future post. Next week we will look at Mormons and why they are not in line with Bibical Christianity.

Egypt on Fire

What we are seeing in Egypt is not as scary as it seems to most people, of course watching it on the news network of your choice will create some angst. But what does it mean in the big picture of things? I cant say for sure but I am convinced of this, it is part of the plan. Fighting in the middle east is as common as a peace treaty.All things point to that part of the world for the outcome that is prophesied in the bible,it started there and it will end there. The concern for most is that the now unstable country will be taken over by a radical faction of Islam.If the radicals are a small number and most just want to live in peace with all peoples,why are they able to take over and over-throw so many places in the region.It is time we have the honest debate about the agenda of those who want the destruction of places with a western democratic system of government.Iran,Syria,Lebanon and many others don't like us and they are not gonna until we adopt there ways. Hezbollah was voted in by the masses in Palestine and have made it clear they want to destroy Israel. The rhetoric has been calmed after being coached by those who get how it works,act nice say what you need to say to act like a victim and then sneak in and do your thing.Honest people recognize this but are told that they are bigots and haters by those who form public opinion for the masses.You have to look at these things from an informed posture,not a sound byte from a Hollywood activist.

God - Rebecca St. James

DC Talk - The Hard Way

Jars Of Clay - Crazy Times

The Lord Jesus Christ

Matthew 10:34
 Jesus said, "Do not suppose that I came to bring peace to the earth, I did not come to bring peace,
but a sword." 

Something about that name, something that brings delight, fear,anger and  many other emotions to so many people. Why ? Let's look at it simply for now. His name is Jesus, most don't have a problem with that, Christ is who He is, you lose some here and Lord is His title, here we lose a bunch. Many try to separate the name from the title, you cannot, not in this case. Not that people don't do it all the time, saying I like this about Jesus or that about Him, but Lord? The above scripture refers to a sword of division as to who He is, not a sword of war.You can be lord of the manner or lord of your house but to be Lord of all,that's a lofty claim. That is what Jesus is, Lord of all creation. Me believing that doesn't make it true but nor does your unbelief make it untrue. So we must all make that decision for ourselves. In order to do that we must have relevant information to help us find out if there is one we call Lord or if there is a "Lord" at all we can no longer pretend both are legitimate options. My hope is that here in this forum we can explore truth, whatever you believe that to be, and come to an eternal decision. Who is Jesus ?

The Dividing Line

This blog will no doubt create some division, its just inevitable with the subject matter that will be coming forth in the days to follow. The tension has always existed around the subject of religion and this will be no different. I do not relish it nor do I have any problem with the reaction , Its just something that comes with the territory . I do not plan to bring anything new, just a refreshing of an existing truth. To de-frag if you will, reestablish a dividing line, its not a line that cannot be crossed just one that has realities attached to it that can't be sullied by me or anyone else. I welcome all comers with joy and look forward to the conversation.