meditations from the third shift

Prodigal American Son

2012-01-25T06:22:00.000-08:00

I saw one of the many "God Bless America" bumper stickers the other day and it got me thinking again about how Americans want God's blessings, but don't want anything to do with God. Isn't that the story of the prodigal son?
"Give me the inheritance, and I'll be on my way"! The father reluctantly agrees and bids him farewell. The son like blessed America parties down on riotous living, until the money bag is empty.
Isn't that about where we are now. Taking jobs for $8-$10 per hour from Walmart and McDonalds, waiting for Uncle Sam to give us some more pig slop? Well, we're not there yet, but we're falling fast. So many would rather sell their soul to the global socialists movement than return to the father and work with full blessing.
When will America seek the Father again? When there is nothing but tattered rags for clothes, barefoot, and eating pig slop!

Chrisalm

2011-11-20T02:44:00.000-08:00

There is a new ecumenical blending of religion taking place under the lie that "we all worship the same God, and that there are many paths to that God". It is called Chrislam.
It probable origin is Muslim born Shamsuddin Saka of Nigeria ” it was after returning from a Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca that he was inspired – he says instructed by God – to launch his new ministry: “That was about 19 years ago. I was praying and I [laid] down and the Lord told me, make peace between Christian and Muslim.”

Now let me stop here to say that Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me". John 14:6 That should settle the matter that there is only one path, not many. There is no possible way that Islam is compatible with Christianity. This is nothing more than the continuing emergence of The Great Harlot of Revelation:
REV 17:3 Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. 5 This title was written on her forehead:

MYSTERY
BABYLON THE GREAT
THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES
AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

REV 17:6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.
Many years ago I was reading a book on cults. I notice that they all had certain similarities. One of which I called the "preparation for the AntiChrist". They were all looking for, or had claimed to have found, a future leader/messiah/savior. They were preparing their converts to accept and worship the coming AntiChrist of the Bible.
How does that relate to Islam/Chrislam? Islam too is waiting a future leader/messiah/savior. Shiite Islam's spiritual leaders are called Imams. They are supposed to be able to trace their bloodlines back to the Prophet Muhammad's cousin Ali. There is a prophecy of a comming "twelfth Imam - Muhammad al-Mahdi". Here is a list of the things the he is supposed to do and be. the relation to the Bible's version of the AntiChrist is obvious:

1.Islam's primary awaited savior
2.Descendant of Muhammad
3.Caliph and Imam of Muslims worldwide (at present there are many)
4.Unparalleled political, military, and religious world leader
5.Revealed after a period of great turmoil and suffering on earth
6.Establishes justice throughout the world
7.Leads a revolution to establish a new world order
8.Will go to war against all nations who oppose him.
9.Makes a seven year peace treaty with a Jew of priestly lineage
10.Conquers Israel for Islam and leads final battle against the Jews
11.Rules for seven years in Jerusalem
12.Causes Islam to be the only religion on earth
13.Discovers biblical manuscripts that convince Jews to convert
14.Brings Ark of the Covenant from the Sea of Galilee to Jerusalem
15.Has power from Allah over wind, rain, crops
16.Will possess and distribute great wealth
17.Face will shine like a star and will be loved by all
Randall Price. "The Second Coming of Islam." World of the Bible News and Views 8, no.1 (Summer 2006);3.

Here is an excellent site that describes what Chrislam is and where it probably originated. It is worth the read.
http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2011/10/what-is-chrislam-and-does-anybody-really-preach-it.php

Follow-up

2011-09-11T13:34:00.001-07:00

Well, it seems that my hunch was correct. The Obama administration has been working behind the scenes to remove the Israel designation from Jerusalem. It is part of a 1967 borders package that will be given to the Palestinians for statehood to be proclaimed by the United Nations. Palestinians are pushing for a U.N. declaration recognizing them as a nation. This is not new they have brought it up before and it was vetoed by Great Briton. Now our U.S. Government is throwing its weight on their side.

In Joel3:1 it is written, "In those days and at that time,
when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,

JOEL 3:2 I will gather all nations
and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
There I will enter into judgment against them
concerning my inheritance, my people Israel,
for they scattered my people among the nations
and divided up my land.

There is judgement for those who would divide and partition the land that God gave to the Jews. This latest round of man trying to make peace on earth without God has brought a record number of tornadoes, floods, 1000 homes burned in Texas (and more out west), an earthquake that cracked the very symbols of our government, prolonged unemployment, stagnant war, and record budget deficits. Our wealth is being poured out into the coffers of our enemies at a record pace.
How long will it be before we are repeating the words of the Egyptians to Pharaoh. "do you not know that the whole land has been destroyed?".

Here is where I think this is all going to happen. I see statehood for Palestinians being declared at the U.N. Land outside of the 1967 Israeli borders is given to them for a homeland. Israel politely says, "go fish". The U.N. then responds with a series of sanctions and finally authorized force. That force is gathered and led by Gog, Magog, Meshech and Tubal, as it is written...

EZE 38:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; prophesy against him 3 and say: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army--your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. 5 Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, 6 also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops--the many nations with you.

EZE 38:7 " `Get ready; be prepared, you and all the hordes gathered about you, and take command of them. 8 After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety. 9 You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.

EZE 38:10 " `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. 11 You will say, "I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people--all of them living without walls and without gates and bars. 12 I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land." 13 Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all her villages will say to you, "Have you come to plunder? Have you gathered your hordes to loot, to carry off silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods and to seize much plunder?" '

EZE 38:14 "Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: In that day, when my people Israel are living in safety, will you not take notice of it? 15 You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army. 16 You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In days to come, O Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.

EZE 38:17 " `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Are you not the one I spoke of in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel? At that time they prophesied for years that I would bring you against them. 18 This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign LORD. 19 In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. 21 I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign LORD. Every man's sword will be against his brother. 22 I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. 23 And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.'

EZE 39:1 "Son of man, prophesy against Gog and say: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 2 I will turn you around and drag you along. I will bring you from the far north and send you against the mountains of Israel. 3 Then I will strike your bow from your left hand and make your arrows drop from your right hand. 4 On the mountains of Israel you will fall, you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to all kinds of carrion birds and to the wild animals. 5 You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD. 6 I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in safety in the coastlands, and they will know that I am the LORD.

EZE 39:7 " `I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the LORD am the Holy One in Israel. 8 It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign LORD. This is the day I have spoken of.

EZE 39:9 " `Then those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and use the weapons for fuel and burn them up--the small and large shields, the bows and arrows, the war clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel. 10 They will not need to gather wood from the fields or cut it from the forests, because they will use the weapons for fuel. And they will plunder those who plundered them and loot those who looted them, declares the Sovereign LORD.

EZE 39:11 " `On that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, in the valley of those who travel east toward the Sea. It will block the way of travelers, because Gog and all his hordes will be buried there. So it will be called the Valley of Hamon Gog.

EZE 39:12 " `For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. 13 All the people of the land will bury them, and the day I am glorified will be a memorable day for them, declares the Sovereign LORD.

EZE 39:14 " `Men will be regularly employed to cleanse the land. Some will go throughout the land and, in addition to them, others will bury those that remain on the ground. At the end of the seven months they will begin their search. 15 As they go through the land and one of them sees a human bone, he will set up a marker beside it until the gravediggers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog. 16 (Also a town called Hamonah will be there.) And so they will cleanse the land.'

EZE 39:17 "Son of man, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Call out to every kind of bird and all the wild animals: `Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrifice I am preparing for you, the great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood. 18 You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth as if they were rams and lambs, goats and bulls--all of them fattened animals from Bashan. 19 At the sacrifice I am preparing for you, you will eat fat till you are glutted and drink blood till you are drunk. 20 At my table you will eat your fill of horses and riders, mighty men and soldiers of every kind,' declares the Sovereign LORD.

EZE 39:21 "I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the hand I lay upon them. 22 From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God. 23 And the nations will know that the people of Israel went into exile for their sin, because they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. 24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their offenses, and I hid my face from them.

EZE 39:25 "Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will now bring Jacob back from captivity and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. 26 They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land with no one to make them afraid. 27 When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will show myself holy through them in the sight of many nations. 28 Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. 29 I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD."

And I think that somewhere within that scenario will be the Rapture, leaving the Anti-Christ a stage to enter. I think its all that close!

...they that curse you.

2011-08-24T02:17:00.000-07:00

Let's see now, a stock market plunge this month, an earthquake in Virginia, and a hurricane coming up the coast, hum!
I haven't seen the new this morning yet, but I'll bet that the Obama administration is about to make a demand or pronouncement against Israel.
Bill Koenig, in his book Eye To Eye, has documented the relationship between land for peace deals and natural disasters and other catastrophes. From 1991 to 2005 there were 57 of them.
I did not fail to notice the Obama administration telling Israel it is time to pull back to the 1967 borders and the greatest tornado outbreak in U.S. history this past April.
Soooo, let's just see what the President is cooking up against the land God made a covenant with Abraham to give to his descendants, Israel.

June 2011 Quote of Note

2011-07-19T17:50:00.001-07:00

“Indeed, I can say with complete truthfulness that everything I have learned in my seventy-five years in this world, everything that has truly enhanced and enlightened my existence, has been through affliction and not through happiness, whether pursued or attained. In other words, if it ever were to be possible to eliminate affliction from our earthly existence...the result would not be to make life delectable, but to make it too banal or trivial to be endurable. This of course is what the cross signifies, and it is the cross more than anything else, that has called me inexorably to Christ.”

Malcolm Muggeridge

Of The Gospel, I am Not Ashamed!

2011-07-13T03:44:00.000-07:00

The Sandwich, Ma. First Church of Christ is the Church pictured in background of the Elvis "How Great Thou Art" album.

RO 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."

RO 1:18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

The 372 year old First Church of Christ in Sandwich, Massachusetts, has a new minister. An 11 member search committee interviewed 74 candidates over the course of 1 year to replace outgoing minister Rev.Brian Gertz. He had been leading the church for 28 years. By a vote of 170-26 they elected Rev. Anne Cubbage to replace him. She is an openly unrepentant homosexual, and married to another woman!
This Church was founded in 1639 folks. I have to guess that the first chapter of Romans will no longer be in the pew Bibles. So I'll put it here:

RO 1:21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

RO 1:24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.

RO 1:26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

RO 1:28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

A Good Servant? Part 3

2011-06-29T02:29:00.000-07:00

If you haven't read "Good Bye Best Friend" you will not completely understand, and enjoy this post.

So what else can be learned from having had such a good dog?
I wonder if the Lord would be saying to me what a good boy?

Do I bring a smile to the face of God when he thinks or talks about me the way Grizz did? You know I am not one of those happy all the time, light up a room, make everyone feel good, bubbly type of people. When I used to talk about Grizz people would notice and say, "you're smiling"! When God bragged about Job to Satan, ( JOB 1:8 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.") I wonder if there was a smile on God's face?

Does my excitement at the presence of God mirror the enthusiasm of Grizz when I would come home? Grizz acted like it was the greatest thing in his world. The presence of God is the greatest thing in my world. Do I take that for granted?

When I sense that God has moved off, do I chase after him? When we walked the paths in the woods Grizz would sometimes wander off the path and explore. I would keep walking or jogging. I would tap on trees, along the path, with his stick, to announce my position. When he noticed I was not near by he would come running until he was right beside me again. He never wanted to be in one room if we were in another. He had to be with us. Do I always walk with God or do I wander off the path?
The Israelites camped with the Lord in the desert. They watched and waited for the cloud, or pillar of fire to lift, signaling that God was moving on. They packed up and followed. Their enemies were watching and waiting for any opportunity to to destroy them. God was their protection and provider. To not stay close meant death. Today we have whole churches and even denominations that have not kept up with the move of God or even stayed camped where they knew him. They have wandered off on their own path, made pacts with the enemy, gotten lost in the dark, can no longer hear the masters voice, and are being led to destruction.

Grizz would bark and shout out with excitement at the food that was being prepared for him. He gobbled up any morsel that was tossed his way from the counter and demand more. He knew that there was good stuff in the refrigerator. When ever it opened he was there.
Do I devour God's word, my spiritual food, with such appreciation or is is a chore and difficult to fit into my time each day. Do I look at the Bible, able to open it on my own, and take from it the "good stuff" I know is in there, with the same eagerness?

When we woke up from our sleep and came downstairs Grizz was excited and delighted. He just needed to love and be loved. His whole body shook and pranced and he would grab a sleeve, pant leg, or drawstring, and pull us to a seat for excited rubbing and loving. It always started my day with a smile and a warm heart. I always enjoyed coming home and finding him waiting, bursting with joy at my arrival. This scripture speaks volumes to loyalty and love that I learned from having had such a great dog:
PS 37:3 Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

PS 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

PS 37:5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:

PS 37:6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

PS 37:7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;

Much of what Grizz was, was because of how we treated and trained him. He reflected the love and joy that we gave to him. Isn't that how it is with God and his Holy Spirit in us, reflecting back the love that he is? Makes you wonder how we ever go astray, doesn't it?

The haters of God's people often call them "dogs". Soon the words "Christian Dogs" will be heard echoing around the world. I am not going to consider that an insult. A dog at the Master's feet is much better than the enemy being crushed under his feet. I'd rather be a happy and content dog, curled up on the rug, at my beloved masters feet!

Good Bye Best Friend

2011-06-02T10:39:00.000-07:00

There is a gigantic emptiness in our household today. A life, a happiness, an enthusiasm, a joy: a love is gone. The home is barely more than a big house, cold and lonely as it was before he came into our life. It hurts awfully so!
It is very difficult to let go of what we love. One writer devoted an entire book to say that, "learning to let go was what learning love was all about". We go through stages of growth in love suffering and grieving, small then larger, losses of what we love, learning to love with freedom, then ultimately letting go of what we love the most, our own life, trusting our soul into the hands of Love. We love self the most and must learn to become selfless. There is no selfishness in love.
That thought put me over the desire, to put off my own pain, and allow my best friend and unconditional love out of his pain. I knew the exact thoughts that would tear at my heart. There would be no more greetings at the door when I came home. He would hear my truck, and the garage door opening, come running for the mud room, hit the rug, and slide "smack" into the door, then stand there his whole body shaking with joy, his tail thwacking out a beat against the drum of the clothes dryer. I would have to open the door so carefully pushing back his enthusiasm. I was home and we both loved it.
There would be no more of his gentle coaxing to go out for a walk. First it was just a look, a stare with longing sparkling tigers'eye brown eyes, then came a pooof of breath just filling and spilling out of his jowls. Next a "boof" as small air touch his vocal cords, then louder, and finally a bark. If that wasn't enough his big paw came up and pulled gently at my stomach. The whole thing was so like one of those Zen alarm clocks ever gently increasing the demand to "Get Up".
I would miss how happy he got when he noticed one of his toys, a pine cone, or a stick on the ground. With delight he would bounce up into the air like a pony feeling his oats. Then a dance, up and down, in and out, and round a circle would transpire, before he softly took the object into his mouth, showed off what he had and marched proudly off, kicking his legs like a Tennessee Pacer. If it was a pine cone, which we usually took away from him because of his tender stomach, He would look at us with a "side eye" glance, shake his head with delight, and then trot off, "chase me"! What fun?!
No more would the affirmative trumpet of his "your fixing my food" bark be heard from the kitchen, as momma's knife hit the cutting board. Every chop of cucumber, broccoli, melon, apple, chicken or beef, was met with a resounding "YES" bark. A steamed baby carrot was gobbled up as though it was Fillet Mignon.
Then there was the way he met you after you woke up to get ready for work. Not climbing the stairs to the second floor bedrooms, he waited down below. He heard the alarm go off the first time you hit the snooze. Then the creaking of the bed, the feet touching the floor,and the water running down the pipes. His excitement built until it waved through his body from head to tail. As you came down the stairs he could not stand it any longer and the front paws came up the first, second, and third step to greet you faster. He would grab your sleeve or pant leg and pull you to your favourite sitting spot where an orgy of love, kisses, rubs and hugs took place, each time as if there had been days apart.
My personal favourite moments were the jogs on the paths through the woods. I holding a stick, in my hand, at my side, he holding the other end in his mouth. Joined at the stick were we, thick as brothers.
Gone also would be the pain, that he cried through the Memorial Day Weekend. His insides no longer able to sustain his precious life. I had to let him sleep and pray that as "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"(1CO 2:9) will include this bundle of unconditionally loving dog.
"Night, night, Sweet Boy"! "Good night Grizz", the words were those we used to speak when we turned out the light to go to bed. They were on my tongue, but they would not come out, choked by the immediate growing grief.
As his pain came to an end, mine began, convulsing from my torso, up to grip my heart, strangle my throat, and explode out my face, in only seconds. Oh, I miss you soooo much!!

Part 2: Why God? Why?!

Malcolm Muggeridge writes:
“Indeed, I can say with complete truthfulness that everything I have learned in my seventy-five years in this world, everything that has truly enhanced and enlightened my existence, has been through affliction and not through happiness, whether pursued or attained. In other words, if it ever were to be possible to eliminate affliction from our earthly existence...the result would not be to make life delectable, but to make it too banal or trivial to be endurable. This of course is what the cross signifies, and it is the cross more than anything else, that has called me inexorably to Christ.”

So I was in the Vet’s office, sitting there, struggling to say its time for my sweet boy to go night night. I cannot think of anything in my life that was more difficult to do than this day. The Vet agreed that I made the right decision. I signed a paper, ordered a paw print in fired clay, turned away from my best friend, and went out to my truck to get the blanket that would serve as his shroud. It was the very one that we brought him home in from the breeder’s. I handed it to the ladies at the front desk and pulled my truck around back, to await his body. I just could not bare to watch him close his eyes and not come back.
We have 6 acres of land mostly wooded where Grizz and I cut walking/jogging paths, and spent most off our out door time together. There was on spot near the top of a hill that he always went to. That spot is where I would bury him.
Waiting for him, in back of the clinic, seemed like forever and I couldn't’t control my grief. The loss, the guilt of abandonment, the questions: Did I do the right thing? Was it necessary? Would he have recovered and lived? And Why God?!!! Finally the door opened. They wheeled him out on a cart. I gently scooped up his lifeless body, as though it might break, laid it in the back of the truck and secured it.

Through the convulsing pain and tears I dug a 4ft by 4ft by 5ft deep hole. With every push and toss of the shovel came thoughts, questions, frustration and a few answers. So much of my prayers over the last year had been for that puppy/dog. It was Sunday night (Memorial Day Weekend) while on my way to work that my prayer time was different. The Holy Spirit had been very strong in his presence that night. I know that I had made a real connection and that God had heard me. I had asked for the dog to get better, and left room for God's will to be done, but I had also asked for clear direction about what to do on Tue. when the Veterinarian would be in his office. I wanted peace of mind. I got peace from that time with God, but when the Dog was better, and only slightly better, the decision was not easily made.
Q: "Why God? Why God? Of all the litters, and of all the pups whelped in this one, why did we get this one. You knew which dog we would get, how sick he would be, how much we would spend trying to give him a normal life, and how it would all end?"
It had been 1 year and 7 months since we put our deposit down with the breeder. We waited 3 months to get him in Feb. of 2010. A month later it was confirmed he had a liver shunt. ( the blood is allowed to bypass the liver) Eventually 2 trips to Manhattan and an operation would mostly correct that problem, but damage had already been done to his kidneys, as they had been doing all of the work. We spent enough to buy a house in Detroit or Youngstown giving him a chance.
A. "Mark, do you see how much love you have in your heart for the Dog? Do you see the pain your wife has because of the love in her heart for the Dog? Give that love to each other"!
This sliding relationship with my wife had been about 1/3 of my prayers over the last 18 or 19 years. The answer was one that I could give to her, but I knew there was more to this whole experience than that. In her pain she rejected the thought as acceptable. I went to bed that night, unsatisfied and still asking, “why?“
That night at work things got worse as I read in the Wall Street Journal the story of the E-Coli vegetable problem in Europe. In describing the symptoms and results of the disease I realized that E- Coli was what had caused my problems the week before. Symptoms are cramping diarrhea, dehydration, bleeding, and kidney failure. The cruelty of the article was that it can be passed from humans to animals and from animals to humans. Did I cause his illness? Did he have to die or was it treatable. "OH GOD, PLEASE LET ME OUT OF GUILT JAIL"!
A: "Mark, do you remember that the Vet said, 'you did the right thing'? "Remember he talked you out of it in the past." Remember our time together Sunday night"? "I heard you". "Remember Abraham, how I called back his hand, before he could slay Isaac"(Genesis 22:12)? "Would I not do the same for you"? "Would I intentionally hurt you?"
"No Lord you word says, "for I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you…“ (Jeremiah 29:11 ).
"Remember how Grizz hit 100+ lbs, and then lost weight on the next 3 consecutive visits over 6 weeks, and his kidney problems?"
"Yes, Lord and I remember how you did not hold back your hand from your own Son", and how you had previously said," this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.(Matthew 3:17)"
Then the realization hit me hard; this is how much God loved humanity, this is how much God loved me. This is a small taste of the pain God felt when he made Jesus to die for us.
Barely had I swallowed that revelation when I thought of Jesus crying out, "my God, my God why have you forsaken me"(Matthew 27:46) Just as I could not bear to see my beloved dog slip into sleep and breath his last. (I had turned my back on him going to the truck and picking him up afterward.) So it was that I got just a taste of the pain the Father felt in turning his back on his Son in his greatest moment of need. For that moment in time the Father had to turn his back on his Son because of the sin placed on him. For that moment in time the Holy Trinity was fractured as Christ felt the aloneness of the broken relationship. That pain felt when turning his back is how much sin hurts the heart of God.
My thoughts raced to a clip of Ravi Zacharias saying, “you and I, sir, will never really get serious about sin, until we realized just how much it hurts the heart of God!”

“Mark!”
“Yes, Lord”
Q: “Was your boy’s death for no reason, a waste?”
A: “No, Lord. It was his time, and he gave us sooo much!” “Thank you for his life with us”
Q: “Mark, was my Son’s death for no reason, a waste?”
A: “ No Lord, That death ransomed all of creation, and reconciled believers to you”!
Q: “What if no-one believes?” “What if the Gospel is made of ’no effect’”?
A: “That would be the most terrible tragic waste ever, Lord”
Q: And that would happen how”?
A: “How then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? and how can they believe, in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!“ (Romans 10: 14-15). And “if the salt has lost it flavor…” (Matthew 5:13), if the testimony is no good, then it is no effect and Christ’s death was for nothing.”
“Mark! Go and tell”!

“Blessed are they that mourn. For they will be comforted.(Matthew 5:4)” Could it be that only they that love, mourn? Could it be that because they have love, they are rewarded with comfort?

(4) Malcolm Muggeridge, quoted in Donald McCullough, Waking from the American Dream (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity, 1988), 145

You Cannot Set A Date !!!!

2011-05-25T04:05:00.000-07:00

Jesus made it clear that no man knows the day or the hour of his return, not even him, only the Father in Heaven. Jesus says his coming will be, "like a thief in the night". It think in my 45+ years in the Church I have heard maybe 100 such predictions, from some crackpot, come and go. I don't really like to hear that someone else has made the same mistake. Such foolishness degrades the integrity of Christianity and the message of truth, that is the Gospel.
MT 24:36 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

MT 24:42 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

There have been may non-Christian speculators surrounding the Aztec calender ending in 2012. I think it is awesome that God has waited beyond 2005 for the Rapture. If the Rapture is pre-tribulation, as I think it to be, then there are at least 7 years left before Armageddon. That destroys the myth of the Aztec 2012 world ending.

We do know that he is coming soon. In the scripture just preceding the one I gave above Jesus says,"MT 24:32 "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34 I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
The "Fig Tree" is Israel. It spread its branches in 1948. "This Generation" that saw Israel reborn as a nation is listed in the obituary every day. Time is indeed running out quickly!
Further evidence of his coming can be found in the increasing frequency and magnitude of natural disasters, wars, persecution of the Church, and Christian revival in places such as China, North Korea, and Russia.
Again from Jesus in Matthew: " MT 24:3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"

MT 24:4 Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, `I am the Christ, ' and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

MT 24:9 "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Jesus uses the words "birth pains" They get closer together and more intense. It seems now as though there is almost no separation between groups of bad news. What did we have just in the past two weeks. Travelers trapped in London, France and N.Y., earthquakes in Chile, mudslides in California, tornadoes in the south, snow in the Australian summer, North Korea threatening the South with war and nukes, Christians slaughtered in Iraq and Egypt... tsunami in Japan, floods and tornado outbreaks in the U.S.... !
Finally, another ominous sign is the cornering of Israel. Israel is being backed into a corner all alone. They will come out fighting, but with the entire world against them they will have to rely on supernatural help.
The sequence as I see it unfolding is 1)the supernatural destruction of the forces of the King of the North, but not before major devastation in Israel. 2) A protection Treaty with the AntiChrist though they will not know who he is. 3)God's deliverance at Armageddon.
This week our on U.S. President kicked Israel to the curb and joined their list of enemies. Remember, God has said the throne will be in Jerusalem for a millennium. Satan is saying, "no"! The Real fight is over the worship of the Jews and the city of Jerusalem. Now our President says to Israel, "give it back" to the 1967 borders. That includes "old" Jerusalem and the Temple mount where Christ's throne will be. America will pay a heavy price for this turning away, "unblessing", "cursing" of Israel!
There are not many grains of sand left in the hour glass!

Egypt, Food, and the King of the South

2011-02-09T03:22:00.000-08:00

The protests, and eventual riots, in Egypt calling for an end to Mubarak's rule are right in line with the Bible.
From the days of Joseph We see that people are willing to sell their lives into slavery for a "little food for them and their little ones".
GE 47:13 There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine. 14 Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying, and he brought it to Pharaoh's palace. 15 When the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all Egypt came to Joseph and said, "Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? Our money is used up."

GE 47:16 "Then bring your livestock," said Joseph. "I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone." 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys. And he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock.

GE 47:18 When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, "We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. 19 Why should we perish before your eyes--we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate."

GE 47:20 So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh's, 21 and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

GE 47:23 Joseph said to the people, "Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant the ground. 24 But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children."

GE 47:25 "You have saved our lives," they said. "May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh."

Today "Famine" in Egypt is not that there is no food, it is that the price is rising fast. I wrote about this in my post "A Days Wages for a Loaf of Bread" http://meditationsfromthethirdshift.blogspot.com/2008/12/days-wages-for-loaf-of-bread.html
In that post I used compounding math to show how at the current rate of food inflation it will only be a few more years before the entire American paycheck goes to food. What is happening in Egypt will soon happen here in the once great U.S.of A.
Now it is also actually expected that Egypt would have a change in government. Bubarak has lived pretty much in peace with Israel owning up to the peace accords that of Sadat and Jimmy Carter. That cannot continue much longer as the war of Gog and Magog is looming ever closer on the horizon. The King of the South must step up and play his roll.
Could food prices and Israel's farming efficiency become a kindling log on the bonfire?

Apostasy in the Church

2011-01-05T03:42:00.000-08:00

One of the prophecies of the end times is apostasy in the Church.

In 1998 the Harris group took a poll of over 7,000 clergy in the U.S. and found the following percentages of clergymen denying the virgin birth:
19% of American Lutheran clergy
34% of American Baptist pastors
44% of Episcopalian priests
49% of Presbyterian ministers
60% of Methodist clergy
79% of Congregational pastors

Since, Christ will have a bride "without spot, wrinkle, or blemish", the Church will move on without these apostates. That would explain the rise in popularity of non-denominational church of the last 20 years. Truly Satan has gotten hold of the old line seminaries.
What does your preacher, pastor, minister believe?
If Jesus was not born of a Virgin then:
1) he is not the one promised to Adam and Eve that would crush the head of Satan. Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.
2) He would not Devine, having God as his Father, but just a man. That means he would not be sinless and could not serve as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
3) that in turn means he would be a liar.

Anything that takes away from the Deity of Jesus, the completed work of the cross, or his bodily the Resurrection is heresy.
If your spiritual leader is a heretic get rid of him or find another church! I the bowl of Satanic soup you can only sip the broth so long before you have to eat the meat!

Messiah

Shepherds Of Course

2010-12-28T13:28:00.001-08:00

One of the really cool things about the Bible is you never stop seeing new things while studying it. In 45 years it never dawned on me the "of course shepherds" would be the first to be notified that a lamb had been born! Even the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world!! Duh!!
LK 2:8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Subtlety of Satan

2010-12-07T08:54:00.000-08:00

I want you to see the subtlety of Satan in this picture. Here he is preparing people to worship the AntiChrist. How could anyone successfully juggle housing, finance and budget, military, war and peace, World affairs, and time. Such a person must be a god, or the God! The AntiChrist will make this look easy and throw in a few supernatural "miracles" as well!
This magazine cover is just one of millions of subliminal messages that the world's people are being bombarded with to pave the way for the diabolical leader to come.

previous quote of note

2010-08-14T04:00:00.000-07:00

Worship

"Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God. It is the quickening of the conscience by his holiness; the nourishment of mind with his truth; the purifying of imagination by his beauty; the opening of the heart to his love; the surrender of will to his purpose—all this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable."
Archbishop William Temple

Grizz Update

2010-08-14T03:22:00.000-07:00

Well you know that I could not just let him diteriorate and die. We made an appointment to have his liver shunt repaired. I traveled down to NYC, the Rotten Apple, home of the Evil Empire. Grizz had another problem, probably due to his low protien levels. They could not do the opperation because he had stomach and intestinal bleeding. If they blocked the shunting blood vessel the pressure would back up increase the bleeding and he would probably bleed to death from the inside.
I now have to give him several stomach medicines (prilosec, a coating slurry, and some consitancy aids.) I could not always be at home to give him his meds on time. The picture above is a "timed puppy medication giver". (Its a technical term!)
It is a cardboard box, mousetrap, and wind up alarm clock. The meds are inside. The alarm clock trips the mouse trap which opens the lid. All I had to do was train him the there was something inside the box that he wanted and could get when the alarm goes off.
Now it has been a month since that trip to NYC. We go back again this Monday. Aug. 16, 2010. He is showing much more energy and strength. There are no signs of bleeding in his stool or bloating in his stomach.
I promise to get back to my regular blog posting duties. I have been working way too much this summer, but it is coming to and end.

Idiots Failed Chemistry

2010-04-06T16:29:00.000-07:00

Last time I knew the chemical composition of sugar was C6 H12 O6, and table sugar was C12 H22 O11. Either way that means that 25% of this bag of sugar is CARBON!!!!
Now, I know that they are trying to advertise that they are "carbon neutral" in their processing of cane into sugar but, this is just plain wrong!
I guess chemistry is not required course for marketing majors.

Quote of Note from Feb 2010

2010-03-03T03:54:00.001-08:00

Signs and Wonders

"What then do you do for a sign that we may see and believe you?" (John 6:20)

"But I said to you, you have seen me, and yet do not believe" (John 6:36)

What is the point of a sign if it does not inspire belief? That is to say, what is the point of a sign if it does not instill faith as opposed to fear, belief and hope rather than dread or simple wonder? In this sense, the signs of Christ himself intend to bring us further into the unique life of Christ. Thus we need not become fixated with the signs themselves, failing to see the forest through the trees. Seeking after the signs of God's presence among us and God's purpose for our lives, we must not miss Jesus in the process. He is both sign and sustenance, wonder and life itself.

Margaret Manning RZIM

Lessons from a Puppy

2010-03-03T03:39:00.000-08:00

A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast; but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. Prov. 12:10

So, we are finally empty-Nestor's, or at least we were for about a year. Like a lot of people in this economy we had one move back. There is a full apartment in the basement so its like he is not even here, except for the extra vehicle in the driveway. Well, a couple of years ago we had to put down our old dog full of unconditional love. For a while we survived on seeing a grand-puppy. She moved out with the daughter last spring. (grand puppies are the coolest. You get to play with them and give them back when you're done with them, before the work begins!) She doesn't come over much any more so we were ripe and set up for big eyed puppy face replacement!
Our old dog (Marley) was a chocolate colored Newfoundland. My wife began an online search for a similar, but male, puppy. After settling on a breeder, There followed months of plying me to agree to have a baby (puppy of course). After many more months he was whelped. We regularly visited the breeders website for the new weakly pictures. Eight more weeks, and hearts aflutter, we finally went and picked up our little "Grizz". He looks like a little bear with paws just about as big. His daddy was 165lbs.

Lesson #1: birth defects and life defects

It seems that our puppy was a liver shunt. That means that there is a blood vessel that allows the blood to bypass his liver. The result is that proteins turn to ammonia (a neurological toxin) in his blood stream and cause all kinds of problems. He will walk weakly around blind with his head down and "bull" into and over things. He didn't want to eat. My wife "the feeder of all living things" put all kinds of irresistible things on his food. This made things worse.
A trip to the vet found the problem. A special diet began that has the problem under control ( he can see again and is playful) until it can be determined if he can be fixed. (that would mean the devious blood vessel could be seen on a ultrasound and easily operated on. Beyond that the cost options are insane. Diet alone won't solve the problem his liver cannot grow and his days are numbered.
So begin the lessons...It occurred to me that some people have a "love shunt". That is that love is allowed to bypass their heart. It turns into toxic selfishness and self-worship. They walk around blind with ever weakening souls. It is a birth defect that all of us are born with discipline and teaching are the temporary survival diet, but it takes the Master Physician to cure the defect and allow the heart and soul to grow.

Lesson #2: Prayer

So like a good Christian father, after learning his child is sick, I take it to the Lord in prayer. I am reminding God that our household, fruit of our labor, and animals will be blessed...
"Excuse me Mark, Is that earnest prayer I hear"? "For a dog"?!! came a not so small voice. "When was the last time you prayed for your perishing neighbors, co-workers, and family members with that much effort"?
Hmmmm!? Umm?! Well!?

Lesson #3: convenience of disposal

Now it is not going to be cheap to fix this dog. It involves surgery and a few days stay in a puppy hospital. Reason tells you put the dog down and go back to the breeder for a replacement! Oh, if it were that easy! Yet that is what millions of people do to humans each year. They make the rationalization and claim to be eliminating these people in a "safe", "painless", and "humane" way. Yeah right, have you ever read/heard the discription of Partial Birth Abortion? And many are arguing for Post Birth Abortion now!
Abortion and euthanasia are really matters of convenience! An irresponsibility played out for the saving of a few dollars, pride, or unpleasantness.
Yes, in this case I can say that this animal is not a human, but isn't that the rational that the abortionists and euthanisors are using; that there is no God and we are just evloved animals! In addition some of them want to genetically cleanse humanity, the way horses are shot before the lame ones can breed, and pass on their weakness. Those who push these options in the human realm are loudly arguing that belief in God is a brain malfunction that needs to be eliminated from humanity.
A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast; but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. Prov. 12:10
The future Christian Holocaust is beginning to take shape.
Unbelievably as I contemplate this option this puppy's personality makes an abrupt change. Seemingly over night he went from a biting, nipping, peeing, pooping little imp, to a tail wagging happy you are home, tug-of-war, kissing snuggling, I want to go out, bundle of fun and unconditional love that his breed is known for!! How is that these creatures have such different personalities and seeming six sense if they have no soul?
ECC 3:18 I also thought, "As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19 Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. 20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?"

Lesson # 4: Putting him down

As, I am arguing with myself about putting him into the truck for the ride to the Vet, and permanent night night,I hear the small voice come up again.
" If you think it is hard putting down a dog, you have known, and loved, for a few weeks, imagine killing your perfect Son whom you have loved since before anything was"! Now do you know how much I loved you"?

That brings up another question: "Why then..."?
At the Vet the options and costs are discussed. I am thinking put him down. I am also thinking about how the priests were required to eat of that which they sacrificed. That is how the priests (Canah) of Baal became to be know as cannibals (canah baal). Can I have my puppy, sacrificed for convenience on a PETA bread sandwich please!!
I say, "put him down", and the Vet asks for a couple of days to see if his colleagues can put together a financially agreeable "rescue" operation. I bring him home. He his riding quietly in the front passenger seat with his chin on the arm rest console, just looking up at me. I am thinking about the "why".

Lesson # 5: Why God?

Why did you let this happen, God? There were 8 puppies in that litter. You did let it happen. You know when a sparrow falls. "Yes I know"! A: For your faith which (the scriptures flash though my mind)...stronger in a adversity...Just a little while more and...
I am reminded of a story I once heard during a sermon. I was a Jr.high youth then but I never forgot the story.
A young pastor and his wife are about to have a baby. There is a troubled birth during which the mother knocked out and delivered by C-section. When she awakens the husband is called to her side. She asks him how the baby is because no-one will/can give her any information. All eyes are on this father/pastor to see what he will say to her. His reply, "God has blessed us with a beautiful mongoloid child"! His reply is heard and repeated throughout the hospital wing. The result is that several nurses and doctors attend Church and some are saved the next Sunday. God's love and the pastors faith displayed through the adverse birth set many free from the "why God" negative "blame God" mentality. And of course there is nothing like the simple love, joy and faith that is displayed by these special children.

. ...a few days later

The first discovery of Grizz's liver shunt was confirmed by an ultrasound image. Another appointment is made with a radiologist. This one is going to be "free" because a radiologist teacher is going to do some training, and Grizz will be one of the examples.
Bad news! The radiologist confirms the shunt, but now it seems he has overturned the exterior shunt finding and has diagnosed and "interior Shunt"! That little bit of information just doubled the cost and seriously reduced the number of qualified surgeons. Again I say to the Vet, "he's got to go permanent night night"!
Again the Vet asks for some "rescue" time.
On the way home I think about the story of the "young rich man" that asked Jesus what he had to do to inherent eternal life. (interesting he knew that Jesus would have this answer/ability.) He was told to go sell all he had and give to the poor. Most people interpret this passage that the young man did not have the riches, the riches had the young man.
I think it is so true how the things we have actually have us! Grizz just a dog but he owns much more of me that I think is right. I remember a book that I read back in early High School. I think it was titled, "Love is Learning to Let Go". I think the book was written to stop teens from committing suicide over breaking up with a boyfriend/girlfriend. (can I say "puppy love" LOL). The gist of the book was that as we grow we have to deal with losing things that we love. It may be a pet, then grandparent, lover, parent etc, until finally we are faced with the hardest thing in life to let go of - Us. When faced with death we have to come to terms with losing the thing that we love the most - our life!
How much easier it is if we have given up our life and died to Christ before our final day comes. It takes years of faith built up into trusting our spirit into the hands of God, and exhaling our final breath. How much better to die with the hope of receiving life eternal, as promised. All of these love losing experiences are meant to bring us up to that day.

More Why?

There must yet be a purpose in all of this that has yet to be discovered/realized/reaped. This whole thing is not just a matter of chance. I must live it out and look for God's planned blessing.

I make the decision that I will not put Grizz down until it is a matter of humanly ending suffering. The Vets say he is unlikely to live past 10 months. He is not suffering right now. Special diet has him acting like a normal happy playful puppy Perhaps he will live on and on confounding the Vets who finally look inside again only to find that God has done what could not be done.
For now God has blessed us with a beautiful, happy, playful,highly intelligent, loving, liver shunted puppy named Grizz.

Meaningless Expression in the Media

2010-02-21T04:01:00.001-08:00

I have published this list of the ACLU's plan to destroy American democracy in the past. It is amazing how far they have come and how they have stayed true to the plan.

Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions, by claiming their activities violate civil rights.

Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all form of artistic expression. eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substituting shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms.

Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."

Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio and television.

Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural and healthy."

Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion.

Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity, which does not need a "religious crutch."

Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the grounds that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of "the big picture."... Obliterate the American past, with its antecedents in principles of freedom, liberty and private ownership is a major goal of the communists then and now.

Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture – education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.'

Today I want to zero in on one bullet point: Artistic Expression. Art is called a medium. It is a channel through which ideas thought and feelings are expressed to the viewer. The Media as in Print, Radio, T.V. and Film, are definitely artistic medium.
What I have been noticing with exploding frequency is how the media has been lost to the ACLU agenda. The Media has become meaningless!
What got me on the observation kick was threefold. Paid advertisement masquerading in the news media, un-Reality Shows, and the suppression of two sided debate on important issues, in all media.

Paid for News

I first noticed this on the grocery store tabloid covers. Every time an actress/actor had a movie coming out their picture was on the cover of everything. It got to the point that you could look at the covers and know who just finished making a movie. Of course none of the headline could be believed: their breaking up, their making up, their having an affair, they...! Is the endless saga of the CarTrashians really in any way important to the lives of Americans? (whats another word for selling your body and beauty for fame and fortune). Those people are truly life imitating art (soap operas) in an attempt to become art! You expect it to be mindless useless information from the tabloids, but it became commonplace in "real" magazines, newspapers and T.V. News as well. I guess what really set me off was when they interrupted a legitimate T.V. show with important breaking news. Was it another terrorist attack, an earthquake, an attempted assassination? No, the thing that was so important that all Americans just had to know was that Jon and Kate had reached a divorce agreement!!! Do Jon and Kate really exist in the real world as a couple or were they just made up on some soundstage?
Last Sept. There was a news spot on Walmart starting Christmas promotions early. I saw it on Fox affiliate channel 7 in Boston. Two weeks later the exact same news spot, with the same film footage was on Boston channel 5. It was obvious that Walmart had paid to dress it up as news.
We all remember Paul Harvey and "Page 2"... It was always clear that this part of his broadcast was a "tongue in cheek" commercial. It was not disguised as real news the way I am seeing now. If the news and information shows can be bought outright and no care to maintain integrity is preserved, then we suddenly are left blowing in the winds of rumors. If truth is taken out of a society the best lying psychopath will enslave it. (example: Hitler)
How meaningless are all of those "reality" shows that everyone is taken up about. Semi-scripted soap operas, with an even greater moral decay, I call them.
Lenin called, "religion the opiate of the masses". I think he meant that he could not get the faith filled to react outrageously at his whim. This decay in artistic media expression is an opiate diversion meant to keep the masses stoned while the thief creeps in and runs away with life!
Does anyone remember how newsmen investigated and broken open scandal in government actions. I am not talking about the personal lives of politicians. I am talking about real underhanded abuse of the public trust in caring for the democracy.
The ACLU has not wavered in its plans. They have won another philosophical battle. We are toast without truth!
Isn't this like the days when God put lying spirits into the mouths of the prophets, and confounded the wisdom of the advisors?

Answer to a Comment: Haiti

2010-02-20T03:18:00.000-08:00

I received a comment to my Haiti post that I would like to answer. Now I "moderate" all post for good reason. Any of you who are bloggers have probably seen comments posted,or attempted, touting prophetic knowledge of the rise of xyz penny stock! "Make $500 by 10am. Yeah, yeah, get your own blog!
I also want to cut out obscene posts and disguised links to child porn sites, etc.
I do not refuse opposing points of view.
With that said I need to answer the following comment I will italicize what they wrote and comment in between

I am so sorry but how can you say Haiti is evil, by who standards?
At this point I have to stop and ask, do you believe there any such thing as evil, right and wrong?. There are a whole slew of people out there claiming to be Christians that have bought into the Unitarian/Universalism lie that a loving God would not set up rules, resulting in the sending of some to eternal hell. Everything may be relative in the jelly they call a brain but not in God's eternal truth! I believe the Bible is his word and clearly spells out what is evil and what is holy!

It amazes me how certain prominent Christian leaders having been pointing out a certain pact that supposedly took place a time where many of them were not even born.
The Voodoo pact if it is true does have an impact. Trading souls for power in a blood ritual can only be broken by the blood of Christ. Indeed I know that some 175,000 Haitians claim to be washed in the blood Nazarenes, and there are others I am sure. What shows Haiti to be evil is its state of perpetual anarchy.
Anarchy originates from the rebellion of Satan in heaven and manifests into the natural realms through godless people. Lawlessness is Godlessness.

Haiti is no more sinful than any other country. There are believers and non believers in that country just like there all over this nation.
And didn't I say that we (the U.S of A ) deserved the judgement for our evil just as much as Haiti! Haiti is held up as a warning of what is to come. THis is a "Birthpang" sign that the tribulation is coming soon. No one righteous died in that earthquake because God has promised the righteous eternal life. He who gave life will give it back. And they are just presently with their Lord. I am sure they are not too upset about that.
There is nothing about this so called pact in the bible so please tell me where everyone is getting this new found information from.
This statement really bothers me. There are 100's of verses condeming and spelling out the results and judgements for participating in occultic forms of spirituality the Bible calls sorcery, idolatry, and divination. Here is a list of some verses you need to read>>>

Exodus 22:18, Deuteronomy 18:10-12, 1Samuel 15:23, Malachi 3:5, Acts 13:6-11 Galatians 5:19-21, Revelations 21:8. I have chosen just a few Old and New Testament scriptures.

Trust me when the tribulation starts there will be no denying that it is here. The bible states that clearly just read the book of Revelations. As Christians we were put on this earth to blessing to others to try to spread the gospel and help and uplift each other not to think that we were better than anyone. There is no perfect person but Jesus and god himself. It amazes me how quick we as Christians are quick to judge everyone except for ourselves. How many ministers are there who claim to be Christians who are prejudice and racist of others who do not look like them? First I believe in pre-tribulation Rapture so when the tribulation starts righteous Christians will be in heaven with Christ. New Christians will be born out of those left but I don't believe the current ones will go through the Tribulation.
How many are there who are committing sins such as adultery, having impure thoughts, sexual acts and living double life styles, racist, and every other sin but still continue to go to the pulpit and preach every day. The only being who can hold anyone accountable and that will happen on judgment day is god himself.
I am glad you mention racist in that group. Did I not mention in my post that Jonah might have been a racist. And did I not denounce self-righteousness?

Quote of note from Jan 10'

2010-01-30T10:54:00.001-08:00

We look back on history and what do we see; empires rising and falling, revolutions and counterrevolutions, wealth accumulated and wealth dispersed. Shakespeare has spoken of the rise and fall of great ones, that ebb and flow with the moon.
I look back upon my own fellow countrymen, in England. Once upon a time dominating a quarter of the world, most convinced, in the words of what is still a popular song, that the God who made them mighty will make them mightier yet.
I've seen a crazed cracked Austrian announce to the world, he would, "establish a Reich that would last a 1000 years".
I've seen an Italian clown saying he was going to, "stop and start the calendar with his [own] ascension to power".
I've heard a murderous Georgian brigand, in the Kremlin, proclaimed by the intellectual elite of the world, as a wiser than Solomon, more human than Marcus Aurelius, more enlightened than a shokur
I've seen an America wealthier, and in terms of military weaponry more powerful than the rest of the world put together, so that if, the American people so desired they could have outdone a Cesar or Alexander, in the range and scale of their conquest.
All in one lifetime. All in one lifetime. All gone, gone with the wind.
England part of a tiny island off the coast of Europe, threatened with dismemberment and even bankruptcy.
Hitler and Moussolini remembered only in infamy.
Stalin a forbidden name in the regime he helped found and dominate for some three decades.
America haunted by fears of running out of those precious fluids that keep her motorways roaring and the smog settling. with disastrous memories of a disastrous campaign in in Vietnam, as the media charge the windmills of Watergate.
All in one lifetime. All in one lifetime. All gone.
Behind the debris of all solemn supermen and self styled diplomatists, there stands the gigantic figure of one person, because of whom, by whom, in whom, and through whom alone, man may still have peace.
THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST.

Malcolm Muggeridge

The Manhattan Declaration

2010-01-30T10:50:00.000-08:00

(copied from the website) http://www.manhattandeclaration.org/

The Manhattan Declaration

A Call of Christian Conscience

Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family. It was in this tradition that a group of prominent Christian clergy, ministry leaders, and scholars released the Manhattan Declaration on November 20, 2009 at a press conference in Washington, DC. The 4,700-word declaration speaks in defense of the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, and religious liberty. It issues a clarion call to Christians to adhere firmly to their convictions in these three areas

You too can sign the petition by visiting the website. The question In your mind is, "why should I", and "is this really a good and needed thing to do"?

You can read the full Declaration at the website http://www.manhattandeclaration.org/
And you can hear an arguement/question and answer in defense of the Declaration at http://www.rzim.org/USA/Resources/Listen/LetMyPeopleThink.aspx?archive=1&pid=1711

Please do, and pass it on!

Massachusetts Republican Senator! Really? Your Kidding! Right?

2010-01-20T03:11:00.000-08:00

Hey can you believe this headline: Brown wins Mass. Senate race in epic upset

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34923900/ns/politics-capitol_hill
How could this have happened? Since I am a Massachusetts resident and voter I'll give you my observations. This is a bit more partisian than I usually get. I might have supported Democrats of the 50's and 60's but I don't support Socialists!
1) Ted Kennedy is gone! There were many voters that voted for Ted over the years just because of who he was and the power that he held in Washington. Martha Coakley did not automatically convert those voters.
2) a.While Massachusetts is predominately a democratic registration state and usually votes 60% to 80% of the time with the democratic candidate they are not by majority Socialists. Mass is made up heavily of Irish, Italian, and Portuguese heritages. They have voted for years ans years with the Democratic ticket, but they are not Socialists. The present government in Washington has had time to expose itself for what it really is. People don't like it.
b.After Nancy Pelosi came here to endorse Capuano, he fell in the primary election. If you mention the trillion $ stimulus package every one, without exception says "where's the money"! with exception of a few road projects and 3 cops standing around collecting overtime, no one can see any result of a trillion dollars!
c.Labeling of groups, individuals, and companies has offended virtually every one. (example: saying that Fox News was not a news organization. "they are an entertainment organization." and the famous Homeland Security domestic terrorist list, that included everyone good, but no domestic Moslem's.)
3)Immediate negative campaigning by Coakley. The statements were so distorted that even the liberal leaning media had to expose it. (ex: Brown voted against a women's right to rape crisis treatment! This was extrapolated from Brown voting against the RU 486 morning after pill!)
4) The Morning after pill brings me to the next reason for the Brown win. The Catholic Church has been pushing the abortion issue lately among this predominately Catholic state. Just before Christmas the Bishop of Rhode Island told one of the famous Kennedy's that he should consider not taking Communion because of his repeated votes in favor of abortion. This was headline and editorial news all over New England. Coakley lost Catholic votes!
Furthermore, Brown's lovely and intelligent daughters came out of nowhere in defense of their father. Brown's wife and mother of those daughters is a long respected T.V. news anchor on one of Boston's biggest stations. The girls got full press coverage and worked it well!
6) Scott Brown is a very like able guy who comes across as the average guy.

Well here to hoping this miracle is repeated across the country!

Haiti, Jonah, and Judgement

2010-01-20T02:29:00.000-08:00

When the Haitian earthquake took place, I was already in "birth pang" observation mode. There had been in the last 3 weeks several moderate quakes in various places. Then Bang! the big disaster in Haiti.
As I watched the news coverage, my heart really hurt for those people. So many dead, so many, trapped, so many homeless, without water, food, facilities, and all of this in a country that is basically already in a state of anarchy. We are looking at a glimpse of what it will be like on a global scale during the Tribulation period.
It was only last summer that our church was asked to pray for the safe exit of a work group from a sister church, because of what was going on there. There had been other mission groups in the news from around our state that had also been caught up in rapid retreat.

Sunday night a Christian truck driver I know came to my store. We discussed Haiti. he said that another Christian driver had said, "I am not helping those people, that's God's judgement on them. They...[are evil]...and got what was coming to them"!
How do you answer this, after all is is basically true?
My first thought was, "we are all evil, we all deserve the same judgement"! It is only by grace that with have received through faith in Christ, that we are not destroyed utterly, and delivered to The Great White Throne for eternal damnation!
My second thought was that of the prophet Jonah. Its a short book everyone should read it right now! Jonah was told by God, "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me." Jonah decided to go somewhere else instead. Now we find out later in the story that Jonah did not like the Ninevites. He became indignant with God because after the Ninevites repented of their wicked ways God did not destroy them. It could be that Jonah was a prejudice racist or just self-righteous. In the rest of the book God deals with straightening out Jonah's attitude.
It is true that Haiti unruly and wicked. It is also true that an Earthquake is God made and he does "place the feet of the wicked on slippery slopes". It is also true that God sent many Jonah's to Haiti ahead of this great disaster. BUT! It is also true that God usually saves a remnant for himself when he brings judgement. Now that God has their attention, now that there is a major armed police force in place to establish order, now that he need to pray most for those people and support Christian missions into their land with money, supplies, and prayer. Now is not the time for self-righteous indignation. We could be the next to be judged. We don't deserve it any less!

In A World Ready to Explode

2009-12-27T03:55:00.000-08:00

If you have ever been present at the birth of a child. You have seen the violent upheaval that contorts the shape and surface of the Mother's stomach with every contraction.
Christ said the end of the age would, "be like a woman in travail". There is no question in my mind that the geopolitical upheaval that is currently taking place is as Christ described.
Here in America we have enjoyed a long period of religious freedom that kept us insulated from the worst persecutions. That freedom is most probably going to change, as the forces lined up against us have their way. Remember We are promised to escape God's wrath but not persecution! So how are we to take this bitter cup if it is forced upon us to drink?
I have a couple of thoughts on this future.
My first thought is that of Glorifying God in the presence of his enemies. Remember when King David sinned word came to David that he had caused God's enemies contempt him?
2SA 12:13 Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD."
Nathan replied, "The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 14 But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt, the son born to you will die."
Remember also, Ephesians Chap 3, v10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
It glorifies God when we stand fast in his name, in the face of persecution.
Lastly, I thought of the following quote, which I also made the Quote of Note for the month. Take courage that in the end through it all we, in Christ, will stand victorious through him.

We look back on history and what do we see; empires rising and falling, revolutions and counterrevolutions, wealth accumulated and wealth dispersed. Shakespeare has spoken of the rise and fall of great ones, that ebb and flow with the moon.
I look back upon my own fellow countrymen, in England. Once upon a time dominating a quarter of the world, most convinced, in the words of what is still a popular song, that the God who made them mighty will make them mightier yet.
I've seen a crazed cracked Austrian announce to the world, he would, "establish a Reich that would last a 1000 years".
I've seen an Italian clown saying he was going to, "stop and start the calendar with his [own] ascension to power".
I've heard a murderous Georgian brigand, in the Kremlin, proclaimed by the intellectual elite of the world, as a wiser than Solomon, more human than Marcus Aurelius, more enlightened than a shokur
I've seen an America wealthier, and in terms of military weaponry more powerful than the rest of the world put together, so that if, the American people so desired they could have outdone a Cesar or Alexander, in the range and scale of their conquest.
All in one lifetime. All in one lifetime. All gone, gone with the wind.
England part of a tiny island off the coast of Europe, threatened with dismemberment and even bankruptcy.
Hitler and Mussolini remembered only in infamy.
Stalin a forbidden name in the regime he helped found and dominate for some three decades.
America haunted by fears of running out of those precious fluids that keep her motorways roaring and the smog settling. with disastrous memories of a disastrous campaign in in Vietnam, as the media charge the windmills of Watergate.
All in one lifetime. All in one lifetime. All gone.
Behind the debris of all solemn supermen and self styled diplomatists, there stands the gigantic figure of one person, because of whom, by whom, in whom, and through whom alone, man may still have peace.
THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST.

Malcolm Muggeridge

Quote of note from Nov. 09

2009-12-27T03:24:00.000-08:00

It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor.
George Washington

The pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts... nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving
H. W. Westermayer

Beware

2009-11-28T03:45:00.000-08:00

Beware of the "lucky First Timers Deer Hunting Hat" LOL

What It Really Comes Down To!

2009-11-11T06:45:00.000-08:00

I saw this bumper sticker the other day and I had my camera with me. I've seen it before, and most of you have also. It made me think though; Do we want Jesus love or the world's love? Yes I know that Jesus loves us all even when we are sinners, but the World stops pretending to love us when we become Christians. SO its Love/love with God, or polluted love/hate with the World. Which would you rather have? Isn't that what it really all comes down to: A friend of the World or a friend of God!?

Quote of note form Sept 09

2009-11-04T04:08:00.000-08:00

"I believe what really happens in history is this: the old man is always wrong; and the young people are always wrong about what is wrong with him. The practical form it takes is this: that, while the old man may stand by some stupid custom, the young man always attacks it with some theory that turns out to be equally stupid."
G.K. Chesterton

How Shall We Conduct Ourselves

2009-10-27T03:38:00.000-07:00

Friedrich Nietzsche wrote, "...God is dead and we have killed him, but now how shall we, the murderer of all murderers conduct ourselves?"
What he was arguing for was that people got smarter and no longer believed in God. People have killed him in our hearts with our arguments. Now that they have killed him there is no longer any basis for moral law to live by. He knew that eliminating God would bring about any atrocity.
It is an interesting metaphor describing the murder of Christ. When Jesus before the Sanhedrin answered the question, "are you the Christ", he said, "I am".
To the Jewish leaders that meant he was saying he was God! They had two choices; fall down and worship him, or kill him! They had to ignore the evidence presented of his birth and ministry, and kill him in their hearts. They then used the Roman system take away his life.
Nietzsche did not consider, or did not think valid, the evidence for the existence and Resurrection of Christ, any more that the Jewish leaders had. He killed Jesus in his heart and mind, and began a lifelong assault aimed at getting society to kill God, yet again.
I like to think of this killing of God in our hearts as "striking the rock a second time". It was this sin for which Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land. It is this sin which mankind outside of "God's rest" and in eternal separation for God. Since no provision has been made for eternal residence except heaven for God's people, and hell for the devil and his angels, it is to hell that these non-believers go.
Careful consideration of the evidences for the life and resurrection of Christ are very hard to ignore. There are 5000 documents validating the Bible. There are writings from Pagan sources of Jesus time discussing him. There is the change in the life of the disciples willing to go to a martyrs death. There are the 500 in the upper room who saw him appear to them alive, and watched the doubting Thomas put the resurrection to the test. All of these we are to believe kept the secret of a conspiracy in the face of horrible deaths and persecution. There is also the differences in the writ ting of the Gospels, yet congruent in their content. The evidence is overwhelming except to those who are looking to disbelieve so that they can live shellfish lives of their own moral making. There are the fulfillment's of the prophetic words of Christ. (How could a dead God make his words come true?)There is the answer to Mary, thinking he was the Gardener and turning away from angel messengers, "tell me sir where have they taken him?": the answer, "Mary"! (who but the God who knows your name could have answered this way?). He lives!

So Now, "how shall we to conduct ourselves", those of us who acknowledge that the tomb was empty and Christ/God lives!? If we are sure he lives and the tomb is empty, then what will we not do for our King, God and Savior!? This must be the thoughts running through the heads of all of those early church martyrs: "The tomb was empty and so will mine be"! "You can take away life and breath from THIS body, but God who was dead and yet lives, will give it back again! What he gave for me, I give for him!
Really "how shall we conduct ourselves", but with the highest of moral standards so that no one can have recourse against us. They will have to look at us and worship Christ or kill us as they did him! Is there any castle, office, city, town, or jungle that we should not storm for him. If in these last day we are to go out, lets go out with the brightest light, loudest explosion, and truest testimony since that of our risen Lord!

Against These There is No Law

2009-10-13T03:09:00.000-07:00

The below news story was coppied from: http: //www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=69163
Dozens of nations dominated by Islam are pressing the United Nations to adopt an anti-“defamation” plan that would make Christians criminals under international law, according to a United States organization that has launched a campaign to defend freedom of religion worldwide.

“Around the world, Christians are being increasingly targeted, and even persecuted, for their religious beliefs. Now, one of the largest organizations in the United Nations is pushing to make a bad situation even worse by promoting anti-Christian bigotry,” the American Center for Law & Justice said yesterday in announcing its petition drive.

The discrimination is “wrapped in the guise of a U.N. resolution called ‘Combating Defamation of Religions,’” the announcement said. “We must put an immediate end to this most recent, dangerous attack on faith that attempts to criminalize Christianity.”....

The “anti-defamation” plan has been submitted to the U.N. repeatedly since about 1999, starting out as a plan to ban “defamation” of Islam and later changed to refer to “religions,” officials said. It is being pushed by the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference nations, which has adopted the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam, “which states that all rights are subject to sharia law, and makes sharia law the only source of reference for human rights.”

In the United States, a plaintiff sued his Internet service provider for refusing “to prevent participants in an online chat room from posting or submitting harassing comments that blasphemed and defamed plaintiff’s Islamic religion.”

“They’re attempting to pass a sinister resolution that is nothing more than blatant religious bigotry,” the ACLJ said in its promotion of its petition. “This is very important to understand. This radical proposal would outlaw Christianity … it would make the proclamation of your faith an international crime.”

So then WHEN, not IF, such a global law is passed against talking about Christ,forgiveness, and the Bible, how are we going to be able to fulfill the "Great Commission"?
One thing we are going to have to learn is to share our faith without denouncing another indivuals actions or religion. We had better start practicing. One of the rules for the advertising guru's of Madison Ave. is to build up the product you are selling without mentioning the name of the competition. Name recognition is everything. Don't advertise the other brand.
In his message "Who is Jesus", given to the Morman Church, Ravi Zacharias includes this thought, "a maeesage not delivered in love, makes the messanger seem obnoxiuos, and the message unreceivable". We must learn to stop beating people over the head.
Finally I come to the main reason for starting this post. In Galatians chapter 5 there are listed the "fruits of the Spirit"
GAL 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Did you see it? "Against such things there is no law"!
Now this verse carries a double meaning. It shows that Christians are not under the Law of Moses, because we are under the law of grace. Living in such a manner automatically fulfills the law by walking in love of God and Man. This verse also shows us how to stand out as a light in a dark world.
I remember hearing the story of two young missionary women in Afganistan. they were there during the time before the U.S. led invasion, when the Taliban enforce Sharia law. I remeber hearing from on of them after being freed that is was their kindness and love that won over Muslims to the Bible and the Gospel. "AGAINST THESE THERE IS NO LAW"
The Bible usually says every good thing more than once. Peter repeats the win them over by the fruits of the Spirit theme in I Peter 3:1. Peter writes to women the they can win over their unbelieving husbands with such behavior.
In the present age it is time to start bearing much fruit!

An Honest Question

2009-09-22T04:17:00.000-07:00

A man recently wrote me an email after having seen my website, "You've Been Left Behind". It seems that he was asking in an honest questioning tone. I am sure that some of you have heard the same question. How did/would you answer?
Here is his question and the answer I gave him. (I have renamed him):
Hi,
I saw your site. Have you ever stopped to think that maybe your religion is not the truth? It's been two thousand years since the Bible says that Jesus returned bodily to heaven. Didn't he say that his followers would be seeing him again?
Maybe the Jews were right to reject Jesus. I mean where is all of nature has a lion sat with a lamb and not tried to eat it?
Yours with interest,
Qwerty

Dear Qwerty,
I'll keep this short. Everything here is worth you time.
The words you wrote are almost an exact quote from the book of 2 Peter.

2PE 3:3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, "Where is this `coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.2PE 3:8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.2PE 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

But how do we know the the time has finally come?

The "thousand years is as a day and a day is as a thousand years" Is a quote that Peter repeated from the Old Testament. Adam and Eve (mankind) were/was told that for 6 days that would work the soil and toil, but on the 7th day they would rest. They were also told before sinning that "in the "day" of eating of the fruit they would die. They died a spiritual death in a man day, they died a physical death in a God day- Adam living to be 930 years old.
Jesus speaking prophetically said, "on the third day I will raise you up". In three man days he rose from the dead. On the third God day we will be raised up.
Jesus also spoke these words:

MT 24:3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" MT 24:4 Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, `I am the Christ, ' and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. MT 24:9 "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. And...MT 24:32 "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34 I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

The Fig tree is the symbol of Israel. You may remember that one day after leaving a frustrating event with the Jewish leaders he was walking out of town and saw a fig tree without fruit. He cursed the tree and the next day the disciples noticed it had withered. The fig tree was symbolic of Israel. They had no spiritual "fruit" to recognized him as their God, creator, and messiah. For that reason they were destroyed as a nation and dispersed throughout the nations of the Earth. This event was prophesied by the prophet Daniel. Also prophesied by Daniel was the eventual return of the Jews to Israel and the coming of the end. We are now here! The times are different that ever before! The time has come!

Thanks for asking,
Mark

Quote of note from July 09

2009-09-22T04:16:00.001-07:00

"The Declaration of Independence dogmatically bases all rights on the fact that God created all men equal; and it is right; for if they were not created equal, they were certainly evolved unequal. There is no basis for democracy except in a dogma about the divine origin of man."
G.K.Chesterton

A Mid-Summer Nights Drama

2009-08-25T02:52:00.000-07:00

There once was a man and a woman. They were drawn, out of the crowds of people, to each other.
One day the Man had to go away on business. It was an awful, terrible, out of balance week. He knew right away that it was her company, voice and tenderness that was missing. Realizing that she must love him, in the same way that he had just discovered he loved her, he decided to ask her to marry him.
The man bought a beautiful diamond ring, set in order plans to create the perfect setting for a proposal. Overlooking the ocean from a park bench they watched the sunset together. When the sky was full of color, the had moment arrived and he asked her to marry him. She smiled a gentle peaceful smile and whispered a loving thunderous, "not yet"! As the sun dropped below the horizon she gently kissed him on the cheek, got up, took his hand and walked quietly, arm and arm back to her home.
Now the man's head was spinning with questions. It was obvious that she loved him, and she didn't say, "no", she had said, "not yet"! What could it be that she was waiting for. How could he win her hand? Then came an idea. "I will impress her so that she will want to be mine forever".
Having been an athletic man in the past he embarked on a new passion of getting back into the best physical strength and condition of his life. He saw a T.V. program where athleticism was put to the test by "free climbing" cliffs and small mountains. "That would impress her", he thought, and he dove into this new sport.
When the day came to show her his newly acquired skills, he suggested a picnic at the same ocean overlook where he had proposed before. "I will meet you there an hour before sunset", he told her.
He arrived with tight shorts, a mid cut tight shirt, special gripping climbing shoes, a belt with a special attached bag for chalk and a water bottle, and began to climber. A half an hour later she arrived and laid out a blanket, basket, a jar half-filled with water and flowers.
Just as the sun was beginning to set a sweaty, dusty, muscle ripped, triumphant man, emerged from the side of the cliff in front of her. She let out a short laugh when she recognized him, got up looked over the edge of the cliff, and gently kissed him. Then she opened up the picnic basket, laid out a couple of plates, glasses, food and drink.
They sat there enjoying each others company, the sunset, the food, and drink. Once they had finished eating they sat side by side, her head on his shoulder, his head on her head, hand in hand. Seizing the moment, again the man pulled the ring from his pocket, thinking this time she will say, "yes". He asked her, "will you marry me now"? she replied a gentle, "not yet", and hugged his arm.
"What will it take?", thought the man, as they walked arm in arm back to her home. He left her there with a kiss and went home alone again! It was a restless night. He tossed and turned, got up, laid down, got up turned on the T.V. and saw a couple doing the Tango. "Women love to dance", he thought, "I will take her dancing". Pleased with himself, and his new discovery, he sat in his window and watched the sun rise, as red as his eyes!
After leaving work early the next day, the man stopped by a dance studio to inquire about ballroom lessons. He was going to romance and impress her now!
Two months went as he learned the steps and became comfortable with the moves. It was near Christmas. There was going to be an office Christmas party at a ritzy hotel. There he would show off his new abilities and create a romantic moment.
When the night arrived, He picked her up wearing a black tux that went perfectly with her gown. In the car he gave her a beautiful pair of dangley diamond earrings for Christmas. The party was marvelous, the food Delicious, and band masterful. They danced and danced, smiles and glistening eyes. It seemed as though time had stopped and there was no one else around. During a break they went to a balcony for fresh air, and to cool down. This he thought was the right moment. He pulled the diamond from his pocket, and asked yet again, "will you marry me"? She replied whimsically, "not yet"!
This time her answer somewhat shocked him. He had been so sure that everything was just perfect. The answer frustrated him and yet at the same time he could hear from her tone, and see in her face that she was saying, "Yes, I want to so much". That thought soothed him.
They enjoyed the rest of the evening together. He dropped her off kissed her good night. He watched as she walked up the steps turned, smiled, and blew him another kiss. "What is she doing to me he thought?", got in his car and drove home alone, yet again. This time he was so tired he slept through the night!
The next day all of the chit chat in the office was about him and his date. The women were all enamoured the men envious. From his cubicle he listened to their whispers. a couple of women were talking when on of them said, "I'll bet he even brings her flowers everyday. Where do men like that come from? I never had a man like that"! The truth was that he rarely brought her flowers. So he decided to bring her a flower everyday.
A month later on a visit to her place for dinner and a movie he brought a whole dozen roses. She got out a vase put water in the vase and set it as a center piece on the table. He notice 3 other vases full of his flowers around the townhouse apartment.
After dinner and the movie they were sharing a tender moment and she was sniffing a rose from the bouquet. He again seized the moment, yet again, and asked her to marry him. She answered a disheartening, "not yet".
Emotions went wild within him. He had to get out of there and cool his nerves. Going into the kitchen he notice the trash was full and grabbed the bag, heading for the garage. There was sign on the thrash can that said, "Tue" to remind her to take the can to the street for pick up. It was Monday night. He push the button on the wall that opened the garage door. The cool January air was just what his brain needed. He took the can out to the road. There he thought, "I can't do this any more". "I'll tell her we need some time apart to figure out what we are going to do".
Going back into the house He found her dancing around joyously. She fell to her knees in front of him hand clasped, face up with huge smile. She begged him to NOW ask her and she'd say "yes"! He fell to his knees, confused look on his face, but not willing to let the love of his life slip away, and asked,"will you marry me"? "Yes, Yes, Yes", came the reply. Hugs and kisses followed.
Finally, still confused, and dizzy from the roller coaster of emotions, he asked, "Why now after all of this time and all of these proposals did you want to marry me?
"I never want to be a nag like my mother, you took out the trash without being asked", came the reply.
They lived happily ever after!

Destroy the Messenger

2009-08-09T10:02:00.000-07:00

How many times have people viciously verbally attacked you. They deride your looks, clothes, job, social status, family, and faith. They will go so far as to belittle your talents an gifts that they know are good. What are they doing?
Remember the quote that I posted back in Feb 09 “There are five Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the Christian, and some people will never read the first four.” (Irish Evangelist Gypsy Smith)
You are a carrier of the gospel: the good news of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "MT 21:33 "Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
MT 21:35 "The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. `They will respect my son,' he said.
MT 21:38 "But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, `This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.' 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

We are also now heirs through him Gal 4:4 God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

As the world get darker, our light will seem blindingly bright to them. The holy Spirit on us is like that of the glow on Moses face when he came down from the mountain. The people of this world try to tell us to "shut up, cover up that light. I don't want to hear it. I don't want to see it."
The world next tactic is to try to paint us black by heaping insults and belittling us: try to make us less than them.
These attacks even come from those that love us. Just standing in front of them is like Christ standing there saying, "what are you going to do about me?"
Don't hide your light. These abusers/murders are conflicted inside. In the dark alone they are afraid and angry at themselves. In that state they are drawn to the lights comforting glow. Pray for them, that they have reason and trouble enough, to get up and seek the light's source.

America's Founding Father Quotes

2009-08-04T01:46:00.001-07:00

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. –John Adams, October 11, 1798

Let divines and philosophers, statesmen and patriots, unite their endeavors to renovate the ajge by impressing the minds of men with the importance of educating their little boys and girls, inculcating in the minds of youth the fear and love of the Deity… and leading them in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Christian system. –Samuel Adams, October 4, 1790

Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure…are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments. – Charles Carroll, signer of the Declaration of Independence

God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel. – Benjamin Franklin, Constitutional Convention of 1787

God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever. – Thomas Jefferson

We’ve staked our future on our ability to follow the Ten Commandments with all of our heart. – James Madison
We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We’ve staked the future of all our political institutions upon our capacity…to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God. – James Madison

Public utility pleads most forcibly for the general distribution of the Holy Scriptures. The doctrine they preach, the obligations they impose, the punishment they threaten, the rewards they promise, the stamp and image of divinity they bear, which produces a conviction of their truths, can alone secure to society, order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government, purity, stability and usefulness. In vain, without the Bible, we increase penal laws and draw entrenchments around our institutions. Bibles are strong entrenchments. Where they abound, men cannot pursue wicked courses, and at the same time enjoy quiet conscience. – James McHenry, Signer of the Constitution

I verily believe Christianity necessary to the support of civil society. One of the beautiful boasts of our municipal jurisprudence is that Christianity is a part of the Common Law. . . There never has been a period in which the Common Law did not recognize Christianity as lying its foundations. – Justice Joseph Story

Bible Stories

2009-08-04T00:51:00.000-07:00

Some years ago Yoko Ono, now widow of ex-beatle John Lennon, stood on stage at a concert, holding a Bible. She waved it at the audience, tore the pages, and threw it into the seats declaring that it was, "just a bunch of stories".
In the post "the meaning of life" I recorded that in the early years wonder, awe. and learning are primary. We love a good story with all of its imagination and fantasy. As we grow older though the quest for the knowledge of truth takes center stage. Isn't awesome that the stories, taught to us as children, from the Bible are revealed to be truth! Furthermore, if taken to heart, they yield a heart of love, and the security we need in old age.
The truth revealed in the Biblical stories lead us to a proper world view of origin, morality, purpose, and destiny. Not only do they lead us into truth, but they also continue to instill awe and wonder as the many many layers of understanding contained within them are revealed. Yet, each new layer of revelation does not trump, or ruin the previous understanding, they support each other. They not only give us a right world view, but also give us the perspective of God's view the world.
All of those stories teach of the worth of the individual, love of good friendship, love of God, and God's love for us.
All of those stories, Old Testament and New, Point to the one perfect person, his perfect character, divine personality, messiah-ship, mission, relationship with the Father, and redemption of mankind.
Blessed are the Sunday school teachers!

A God that Cares

2009-07-19T13:12:00.000-07:00

There was a popular song a few years back that said, "From a distance God is watching us...."
There are some who subscribe to the Deist theory of God. That is that God created this Earth and its inhabitants and then just walked away, or stands afar off watching, but not interfering, and uncaring. I do not subscribe to this point of view!
Consider the Gospel of Mark Chapter 4 and verses 33-38. Here the crowds have gathered around the waters edge and Jesus is teaching them from bow of a fishing boat. He is using parables to teach them. Then he decides to put his disciples into the middle of a living parable:
MK 4:33 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

MK 4:35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

MK 4:39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

MK 4:40 He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

MK 4:41 They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

Notice that verse 36 says, "...they took him along, just as he was, in the boat."
When the storms came up Jesus was in the boat with them! It could not be made any more plain: when the storms of life come up, he is "in the boat" with us!
So why doesn't it seem that way to us? It is because we are focused on the waves, and he is focused on our faith. We are too concerned about the natural experience going on around us, he is concerned with our spirit. When the disciples cried out, "don't you care if we drown?", Jesus' reply was, ["where is your faith"].
This was about teaching them faith and trust. He told them to go to the other side, he was in the boat with them. You could say that he put them in that situation for the trying and growth of their faith.
This life and this world are temporary. God gave both to us. He is able, and has promised to give us a new life, a new heaven, and new Earth, based on faith! He cares, he cares, he cares, but his priorities are on the eternal. "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."(1Peter 5:6,7)
I leave you with this post 9/11 apologetic:

THE STAIRWELL

You say you will never forget where you were when you heard the news
On September 11, 2001.
Neither will I.

I was on the 110th floor in a smoke filled room with a man who called
his wife to say "Good-Bye."
I held his fingers steady as he dialed. I gave him the peace to say,
"Honey, I am not going to make it, but it is OK...I am ready to go."

I was with his wife when he called as she fed breakfast to their children.
I held her up as she tried to understand his words and as she realized he wasn't coming home that night.

I was in the stairwell of the 23rd floor when a woman cried out to Me for help.
"I have been knocking on the door of your heart for 50 years!" I said.
"Of course I will show you the way home - only believe in Me now."

I was at the base of the building with the Priest ministering to the
injured and devastated souls. I took him home to tend to his Flock in Heaven.
He heard my voice and answered.

I was on all four of those planes, in every seat, with every prayer..
I was with the crew as they were overtaken.
I was in the very hearts of the believers there, comforting and assuring them that their faith has saved them.

I was in Texas, Kansas, London. I was standing next to you when you heard the terrible news.
Did you sense Me?

I want you to know that I saw every face.
I knew every name - though not all know Me.
Some met Me for the first time on the 86th floor.
Some sought Me with their last breath.
Some couldn't hear Me calling to them through the smoke and flames;
"Come to Me... this way... take my hand."
Some chose, for the final time, to ignore Me.
But, I was there.

I did not place you in the Tower that day. You may not know why, but I do.
However, if you were there in that explosive moment in time, would you have reached for Me?
September 11, 2001 was not the end of the journey for you.
But someday your journey will end. And I will be there for you as well.
Seek Me now while I may be found.
Then, at any moment, you know you are "ready to go."

I will be in the stairwell of your final moments.

GOD OUR FATHER

The Meaning of Life

2009-06-30T11:44:00.000-07:00

In comprehending the meaning of life one could get lost by just dwelling on the end result. Consider first what things bring meaning to life and how we get there. It is much easier.
I picked this up from a question and answer session following a Ravi Zacharias lecture. He had lectured on pluralization, secularization, and privatization. The series had to do with how we got from of God fearing unified society to the empty, divided, and depraved one we have today.
On his topic of pluralization he argued that, since in Post Modernist society, pluralization has come to mean and equality of ideas with no way to test for truth, the end result is a loss of meaning!
This prompted a student to stand during the question and answer period and ask." since post modernist pluralization resulted in a loss of meaning, what was the meaning of life"?
Ravi answered by stating what brought meaning to ones life. They were WONDER, LOVE, TRUTH, and SECURITY Now lets unwrap these simple answers and see where it is that each on eventually is fulfilled and yields meaning.

Wonder

Wonder is euphoria of excitement, awe, discovery, learning, and revelation. It is the primary driver in a humans early years. As wonder is realized, it takes greater and greater experiences to stimulate an episode of wonder,enchantment.
An infant might be awed by the music and turning of a mobile hanging over the crib. Eventually wonder wears off and the parent must find a new way to distract the infant from its discomfort. The parent may stick a rattle into the hand of the infant, and in a feisty cry the rattle is shaken. The child hears this new sound and begins the realization the it is in control of making the sound.
Next comes the Fisher Price activity station with a beep, a ratcheting sound, a squeak, and a bell. As the child grows and there are dogs and frogs, balloons and baboons, planes and trains to be taken in. Not satisfied the growing little person wants to know how each of them works!
Extreme sports, the latest special effects movie, the newest euphoria producing drug, and fads are all the result of our quest for wonder. It can become a dangerous, and even deadly quest, if there is no moral compass applied in the chase.
The person who gets off on the tangent of fulfilling excitement through drug may start of with a cigarette or a beer, but the need for greater stimulus leads them down a path of addiction and slavery. Eric Clapton in his song, "Cocaine" included these words about that first euphoric high: "just remember this fact, you can't get it back"!
A lost soul finding wonder in sexual passion will travel down the road to perversion and fetish.
We never completely out live the need for wonder. In fact, it is the wonder filled need to learn, that drives our discoveries into the next 3 topics. Eventually, however, there is very little in the created universe that is shocking and awe inspiring enough to thrill.
I remember Steven Hawking narrating a program on physics. In describing a Black Hole, he began to turn the mathematics into a picture of what it would all look like. He had to admit that the math model broke down at the bottom of the black hole. To know for sure its shape would be, "to know the mind of God". Ultimately in the human learning experience, when you seem to have done it all, only God is big enough to still inspire wonder, excitement, awe, discovery, learning, and new revelation!.
It seems that this is true of every endeavor of serious study. When you have torn apart every aspect of a subject you find that God is at the bottom of it all.

Love

The quest for love starts as early as infancy. The child cries not because it is hungry, or in pain, but because it just wants to be held, and feel loved. The drive for finding love does not really kick in gear until the teens and twenties and is dominant into the 30's.

There are 4 kinds of love: four Greek words for "love" in the New Testament.
Eros: "is passionate love, with sensual sexual, desire and longing".
Philia: "...means friendship, a dispassionate virtuous love".
Agapē: "...self-sacrificing, giving love to all... divine love or the love of God
Storge: "...natural affection, like that felt by parents for offspring".
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_four_greek_words_for_love_and_their_meanings
Whether or not you agree with the Bible as God's word, you probably don't argue with the title "the Book of Love". If you give it some contemplative thought you will agree with these 4 very different loves. The individual looking for love is seeking fulfillment in all four categories.

Erotic love is generally not the first kind that we learn. I think that there is a reason for that. If we did not first learn friendship love (philia), then our Eros love would be relegated to rape and prostitution. Erotic passion can be completely selfish and mechanical. Such love would leave both participants empty, without joy, or fulfillment. Passion with a friend is far better and more enJOYable.

We learn friendship love even before elementary school. The give and take, sharing, and caring is fundamental for human development. We finally “get it” when the day comes that we realize there is joy in giving a gift to others.
The formation of a cities and countries, is the out working of friendship love. We make a pact of friendship to create an atmosphere where we can live, work, love, have families, and grow with those of like desire. We join together in a pact of mutual protection, raise armies and build defenses for mutual protection. In the nuclear age people are trying to create a unified world. It is a desperate attempt to stave off self annihilation.
Friendship is more than just protection though. We also need these friends to help keep us in line, sort out answers to problem, shoulder some of our burdens. The warmth of a smile or hug is both contagious and encouraging. We make friends because we need each other!
All of this is set up to care for our basic needs in life. It is a foundation from which base our quest for Meaning. Not much else takes center stage in our minds until food, water, and shelter have been set up.

Agape love is the highest form of love. Agape love is a spiritual heart felt love that is above self interest and cannot be destroyed. Once you have given this love to someone you cannot take it back. It will tug or tear at your heart but it cannot be forgotten. It is binding. It cannot be explained in Darwinist terms. It cause the strongest to sacrifice themselves for the weakest! NO ONE is happy or complete without giving and receiving this kind of love! It is a most important part of a MEANINGFUL life.
The Apostle Paul in the letter to the Church at Corinth perfectly described and listed the laws of this kind of love.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (1Co 14:4-8)

There is NO greater, or perfectly executed example of, Agape love than that of God, who left heaven, entered time, put aside his power and authority, and gave up his life, willingly, on the excruciating and humiliating cross, to ransom humanity. Once again the quest for meaning, through love, finds its ultimate in GOD. In fact what you even think about Agape love shows what you think about God.

What passes as love or a loving act brings up the questions of MORALITY and ORIGIN. If the Theory of Evolution is based on survival of the fittest, then what is the PURPOSE of a love that causes the strongest to sacrifice themselves to protect the weakest? It takes no love whatsoever to make offspring it does however take loving sacrifice to nurture them to adulthood. Finally there is always the question of DESTINY in love. The couple in a relationship ask. "where is this 'love' relationship going? Will it last? Is it real? All responses to the above questions are shaped by the respondent's view of God!

The Bible says, "...God is Love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God"(1John 4:16). If God is Love then it follows that, love comes when God gives a part of himself, to another, as a gift. (If, it is not a free gift then, it is not love.)
The one who receives God's gift of love must now decide what to do with it. Here are the options:

1) Dwell in it, enjoy it, and give it back to God (love God). The result here is the love multiplied and sent back from God. Thus a relationship is established with God. To succumb to love is to die to self and be made alive in Christ.

2) Give the love to another person. The result here is that, when the cup is poured out, it is refilled by God, with the same measure that it was given out. The more you give the more you get. The new receiver of the love must now also decide what to do with the love that was given to them, because, "Love continueth"(never fails, never stops, 1 Corinthians 13.) They might return it to the giver and a relationship is established.

3) Taint the love with selfishness and use it to enslave another for selfish purposes. This person perverts love, abuses it, and tries to keep it manageable, it is the same way they think of God. They want a humanized, manufactured, manageable God. In this case the love grows cold. "In the last days, do to increased wickedness, the love of many will grow cold.(Matt 24:12)

4) Reject the love, deny its author, and call it a genetic weakness. This person sees love as purely chemistry and hormones. To him there is no God we evolved from a bath of chemicals. This person runs from love so as not to give up self on the throne of their heart. Sometimes this person rejects the love because of feelings of guilt and unworthiness The result is death of the spirit, leading to death of the wretched soul, and finally merciful death of the depleted body.

In each case; what a person does about Love is what they believe about God, and influences their answering of the other four big questions of life.
George Herbert understood that Love was a drawing card from God to pull humanity closer to himself when he wrote "Love bade me welcome"

Love Bade Me Welcome

Love bade me welcome, yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-ey'd Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lack'd anything.

"A guest," I answer'd, "worthy to be here";
Love said, "You shall be he."
"I, the unkind, the ungrateful? ah my dear,
I cannot look on thee."
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
"Who made the eyes but I?"

"Truth, Lord, but I have marr'd them; let my shame
Go where it doth deserve."
"And know you not," says Love, "who bore the blame?"
"My dear, then I will serve."
"You must sit down," says Love, "and taste my meat."
So I did sit and eat.

-- George Herbert

Truth

Post Modernist thought says that , “everything is relative, there is no such thing as truth or absolute”. If that is true then the statement is also untrue. The statement obliterates and disqualifies itself. One has to wonder how it ever got taken seriously.
I can see where such a thought might be a good frame of reference for an attorney. It would free the lawyer from the inhibitions that would prevent him from doing everything possible for his client. It could never be a valid philosophy for life, however.
A lie is cruel. The purpose of a cruelty is to enslave. The post modernist not only puts the lie into the soul of humanity, but also takes away the possibility discovering the lie. The enslavement becomes permanent! The cruelty is absolute!
Each and every man, in a desire for freedom, embarks on a quest for truth!

As part of the search for truth we must all answer for ourselves the questions of origin, morality, purpose, and destiny. Where did human life originate from. What is right? What is wrong? What is life’s purpose? What happens to me after life?
The search for truth and an absolute reality becomes a dominant drive in the ages 30 to 50. It seems to really start during the rebellious adolescent stage though. During that rebellious stage we throw off all the morals, values, and teachings that were given to us by adults. We then begin to test for ourselves what is truth and worth keeping. It is a dangerous time. If, the methods of testing for truth are not sound, the result can be death, insanity, enslavement, or incarceration. We can become lost, in soulish anarchy, never to be found.
One may start by asking , “are there any absolutes”? “Are there any moral absolutes”? The answers become frames of reference for establishing a personal philosophy and world view. Those asnwers become our personal government. As we divide truth from fiction, for ourselves, we pick these up and make them permanently our own.
If you examine humanity’s cumulative collective union of truth, you will find universal agreement on some fundamental truths regardless of teaching, social status, culture, or upbringing. These are called Moral Absolutes. There are some who would like to deny that Moral Absolutes exist. They want to deny it because, if Moral Absolutes exist then, it means there was a Moral Law giver that put it into the conscience of every person. Either Moral Absolutes exist, and God exists, or no Moral Absolutes exist and God does not exist!
Now if you decide there are Moral Absolutes and God exists then you have begun to answer the question of origin and purpose. If you deny Moral Absolutes then you have some more questions to answer.
Even those that deny the existence of Moral Absolutes will point a figure at another and angrily proclaim them to be a liar. They will balk at saying, “murder is O.K. for personal gain.” They will call the police when they have been robbed. (for what if not to exact punishment, restitution, and stop the “crime”) Even atheists are upset to learn that their spouse or lover has been sexually violated by another etc.etc.
Ultimately there will neither be peace on Earth or in a man’s heart outside of a moral law equal to the 10 commandments given to Moses by God.
Let me illustrate this with the life of Martin Luther the Reformer.
Luther was in the middle of his own quest for truth when Rome began selling Indulgences to raise money for cathedral building. In effect this was selling the Right to do what was wrong. Luther had subjected himself to various kinds of self flagellation in a futile attempt to reconcile himself to God. He said, “though I subjected myself to wakings, freezings, and fasting, I could not reconcile myself to my baptism”. He knew deep from within that he had not yet discovered truth. The fire to find it exploded at the careless treatment of morality by Rome. When he nailed the “95 thesis” to the Wittenberg door it was a challenge to other professors to debate the questions. It was an effort to collectively come to some truth.
Later when he rediscovered, “salvation by grace through faith“, he knew in his heart that it was truth. No one could ever tell him differently again. No one could ever again enslave him with “salvation by works”.
God was the creator of reality and truth. Any altering of the reality is a lie and an attempt to enslave. Jesus said, “ I am the way, the truth, and the life…” He was either a liar, a lunatic, or creator God. Each and every human must put this statement to test.
Once again the search for meaning ends at God!

Security

The drive for security takes center stage later in life, 50’s to 70’s. This is the need to know that as our body weakens, we will be safe and cared for. It is also the need to feel secure in our love. Will those we love be safe and secure? Have we saved enough for retirement? Is our home, neighborhood, and nation safe? Have we made good relationships with others or will we age and die alone? Are we secure in our belief about what is truth? Have we made the right decisions? We want to know that our life HAS meaning. Can we sleep at night with our expectation of destiny?
We want to know that as we give up control, or as we loose control, that everything will be alright, that all is not lost. Can we sleep at night with destiny we have carved out? As we fall backwards, from the stage of life, into the mosh pit of the grave, can we trust the arms extended to catch us? Can we “go calmly into the night “ with our expectation of destiny?

If you say there is no God then you are saying there is no meaning. If there is no meaning then there is no purpose to life. If there is no purpose then, as Sartre said, “why not commit suicide”? Jesus said. “ I am the way, the truth, and the life…” ( John 14:6) He backed it up with his own resurrection and made us this promise of security: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life( John 3:16).
Paul wrote: “ By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.” (1 Co 3:10-13)

It sounds like a better way to go to me! Again we find meaning for life in God!
There is nothing that can ultimately bring security, at the end of your days, like God! You can spend a life of restless nights, in a quest for meaning, and end up at God, or go through life with God, and have a life full of meaning!
To quote Ravi, meaning comes to your life when you can, "combine a sense of wonder, under girded by truth, experience the richness of love, with the knowledge of security".
I will add that only God is great enough to establish that, and only in a relationship with him can it be obtained securely!

“ Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.

For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil."((ECC 12:13&14)

For those of you who already have put you trust in Jesus Christ and the Bible, let me give you some Biblical examples that support this “Meaning of Life” idea I have written. Each of these examples went through the same stages and principles.

John the Apostle

The New Testament account of John Shows that he saw the miracles of Jesus This was awe and wonder. He was being taught who Jesus was. (Matt 8:14,15, Mark 5:37, Luke 5:10, Matt 17:1, Rev 1:1 -22:21)
He had a deep friendship love with Jesus (John 13:23-26, John 21:20) Knew family love (John 19:26)
Came to know it all as the truth after the resurrection ( John 21, 1 John 1:1-8)
He was secure in his destiny (1John 5:10-12)

John the Baptist

John was in awe at the presence of Jesus before they were both born! (Luke 1:39-45) Awed at Jesus’ baptism (Luke 3: 21&22)
Knew the truth of Jesus (Matt 3:11,12 , John 1:6-8)
John questioned his security in the truth of Jesus (Matt 11:2-6)

Israel

The Children of Israel were brought out of Egypt with much awe and wonder. The plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, the Pillar of Fire. And all of the miracles in the 40 years of wondering. (Ex chap 1-Jos chap 1).
During this time they were given truth (Ex 20:3-17, Ex 28). As they entered the promised land the learned the importance of the responsibility of community. (Jos chap 7). Throughout their history God showed them his love, even during times of devastation and discipline. (Isaiah, Jeremiah Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, MT 23:37 and others. Just pick a page!) You can’t forget the Song of Solomon!
Israel’s security is garunteed forever but they knew times when their security was in jeopardy for disobeying.

The Church

The Church also had it beginning in awe and miracles. I’d have to begin with the resurrection of Christ, but then there is the whole book of Acts. This is the Churches infancy of awe and wonder driven growth. As the New Testament proceeds love of all men, each other as a family, and of the savior is taught. The learning of the Epistles becomes the entire message of truth. Security is promised in eternal life and the Church is established as the Bride of Christ to reign forever and ever (Rev 22: 1-6).

Quote of Note from June 09

2009-06-30T03:29:00.001-07:00

"Who am I? This or the other? Am I one person today, and tomorrow another? Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others, And before myself a contemptible woebegone weakling? Or is something within me still like a beaten army, Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved? Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine. Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am Thine."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Worship: Creation or Creator

2009-06-22T23:54:00.000-07:00

There has been a disturbing trend in churches in the last few years. After a Song or play has been performed, there has been applause!
I was in a church a few years ago when a woman with an obviously trained and developed voice sang a powerful number. The song itself had something to be desired spiritually. Although it spoke of spiritual things, it could have been played on any secular radio station without complaints from the anti-God squad! When she had finished the congregation jumped to their feet and cheered, clapped and even whistled. This was not a special event this was Sunday service!! I sat there embarrassed, in shock, and fearful. As I looked around only the man seated beside me was not also in standing ovation. We shook hands and introduced ourselves in a diversion from the embarrassing show!
At another large church This was the scene during praise and worship:
A praise band took the stage. The lights were dimmed, colored stage lights and a spot were turned on. Dry ice fog rolled across the stage. Three large flat panel television screens broadcast close-ups of the singers.
I remember being taught in Jr. high school that we don't applaud sacred numbers. I guess that since the sacred is not allowed in schools any more they don't feel the need to teach it any more. I don't blame just the Schools though. Churches have become entertainment centers under the "user/seeker friendly" plan. What is wrong with applause? Everything!
The only two reasons that I can think of to take the podium in God's house is to glorify God or to build up, edify, encourage the body. In either case the inspiration is to create worship to God. The proper response from the body is "Hallelujah", "praise God", "thank you Jesus", "Amen" etc. When inspired by truth and testimony we worship the creator not the created!
When you place your worship on to an person you kill them. Remember what happened to Herod?
AC 12:21 On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 22 They shouted, "This is the voice of a god, not of a man." 23 Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

There is another way in which you kill them. Look at these verses which speak of the day when Satan fell from heaven:

ISA 14:12 How you have fallen from heaven,
O morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!

ISA 14:13 You said in your heart,
"I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.

ISA 14:14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High."

" `You were the model of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

EZE 28:13 You were in Eden,
the garden of God;
every precious stone adorned you:
ruby, topaz and emerald,
chrysolite, onyx and jasper,
sapphire, turquoise and beryl.
Your settings and mountings were made of gold;
on the day you were created they were prepared.

EZE 28:14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub,
for so I ordained you.
You were on the holy mount of God;
you walked among the fiery stones.

EZE 28:15 You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created
till wickedness was found in you.

EZE 28:16 Through your widespread trade
you were filled with violence,
and you sinned.
So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God,
and I expelled you, O guardian cherub,
from among the fiery stones.

EZE 28:17 Your heart became proud
on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted your wisdom
because of your splendor.
So I threw you to the earth;
I made a spectacle of you before kings.

EZE 28:18 By your many sins and dishonest trade
you have desecrated your sanctuaries.
So I made a fire come out from you,
and it consumed you,
and I reduced you to ashes on the ground
in the sight of all who were watching.

Some Bible scholars believe that His body was actually a musical instrument. In his position, at the alter, the argument can be made that he was a "praise and worship" leader. At some point in the heavenly proceedings he took his eyes off of God and duty, and noticed that he was beautiful. He allowed for just a moment some of God's praise and worship, coming up behind him, to be for him. It filled him with pride, puffed up like a blow fish. He had stolen what belonged to God. According to Pagan tradition, "he then flew up to God and asked, "why should you be the one to be worshipped?" The result was pride, ego, and fall.
A short time later Satan found Adam and Eve worshiping God in the Garden of Eden with their love and obedience. Satan enticed them to take their eyes off of God and consider that they had something to gain, by disobeying God, and eating from the forbidden tree. The result was pride, ego, and fall.
2000 years later Satan inspired Nimrod to break the covenant of Noah with God. He ordered the building of an unholy mountain, the Tower of Babel, so he could ascend it "push back the heavens" and be god of his domain. The result was pride, ego and fall.
2000 more years go by and: LK 4:5 "The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 So if you worship me, it will all be yours."LK 4:8 Jesus answered, "It is written: `Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'
2000 years later Some young people are singing in the church choir. Tina, Whitney, Aretha, and Elvis perform a inspiring number. Everyone tells them how wonderful they did, and how great they sound. One of Satan's servants takes note. He waits for them outside.
"I'm from R-E-S-P-E-C-T Records. That was Great! I'd just love to get you down on trax. These are my assistants Turner and Brown. We're staying with Proud Mary, Down by the River, At the Heartbreak Hotel. I can make you a star".
A few year later after performing for and audience of 5-10,000 the jubilation of being worshiped by so many gives them such a high that it must be rounded off with alcohol and barbiturates. A few days after that cocaine and amphetamines get them up for another performance. A few years go by and the result is early unexpected death.
Meanwhile, back at the church The pastor is having trouble getting up a choir and finding a piano player. Our best, our first fruits, our utmost, ought to be for the Lord.
When a crowd worships an entertainer, politician, or spiritual leader, they are calling up that spirit that wants to be worshipped. Humans weren't made for worship. Their souls cannot handle the role of God, or the guilt of playing God. They are destroyed.
American Idol is the show on T.V. that I dislike the most. The honesty of the show's title. It is an in your face trivializing of idolatry. The performers are given huge doses of pride, ego, greed in exchange for promoting the World's system. A system put in place by Satan after the fall of Man. Praising that system is praising it creator. It is Satan worship!
Please don't turn our churches into another episode of American Idol! Please worship Creator God, and not the created persons!

The Heart of a Home

2009-06-22T21:23:00.000-07:00

On the Piano Man album, Billy Joel, sings "You're My Home", with the lyrics:
"...Home could be the Pennsylvania turnpike
Indiana's early morning dew
high up in the hills of California
home is just another word for you".
It was a fancy way of saying, "home is where the heart is". A person tends to think about these things when they are away from home for a while. When we say "home is where the heart is, aren't we saying that, "a house with love is a home"? What makes a house a home?
Before I begin to relate my observation, I will state that this is decidedly a man's perspective. Much of the same principals make a house a home for a woman, but there are differences. A woman might include safety and protection on her list, and although a good man will seek to provide that for her, it is not high on his list of needs. There are several blogs written by women that I regularly read to get an honest view into the soul of a Christian woman. I will leave it to one of them to pour out their side of the equation.

There are four greek words for "love" in the New Testament.
Eros: "is passionate love, with sensual desire and longing".
Philia: "...means friendship, a dispassionate virtuous love".
Agapē: "...self-sacrificing, giving love to all... divine love or the love of God
Storge: "...natural affection, like that felt by parents for offspring".
.http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_four_greek_words_for_love_and_their_meanings Most Christians have heard these preached on many times from the pulpit. I want you to consider that as a "homemaker" a woman, plants, promotes, and nurtures, these four "loves" in her house. It is these that turn a house into a warm and fuzzy nest called "home".
In his lectures at Georgia Tech, Ravi Zacharias uses a story by the philosopher Camus. In the story, a simple married country woman, gets an opportunity to fulfill a youthful sensual fantasy, during a visit, with her husband, to a city. After an emotional mental struggle she gives in, leaves him sleeping in bed, goes out into the night and indulges in the passion. She then comes home and cannot sleep but sits up in bed weeping. He awakes and asks, "what's the matter". She replies, "nothing, nothing"!
Ravi's take on the story is that, just when you think life has delivered the ultimate in fulfillment you find it leaves you empty chasing after the next excitement. He adds a few more examples to the point that God is needed to fill our emptiness and that secularization of society will result in hedonism and a loss of shame. Later during the question and answer session a student had the presence of mind to ask that, "since we all struggle with the desire for the sensual, had the professor found any means of fulfillment in this area". Ravi related the "four loves" and that only within the framework of marriage do they all come together, in an uncorrupted fulfillment".
We don't usually think of it in such terms, but imagine the heart of a man when he understands the way in which a good wife has made his home. Behind the scenes she has been creating fulfillment without his even knowing it. She has allowed/promoted herself to be the object of his lust and then risen to indulge his passion. She has not only been his best friend, but also allowed/promoted good friendships with others. She has encouraged his relationship with God, prayed for him, and prayed and worshipped with him. She has provided him with family both close and extended. How much more will that man look on love at his wife and praise God for her?! How much greater will the bonds of marital union be when he sees this with "the eyes of his heart"?!
There is a flip side to all of this. Woe to the woman who has selfishly withheld these loves, so that she can have him completely for herself. If love is the perfect expression of the Holy Spirit, in and through a woman, a perfect gift, then the withholding of it is the perfect cruelty! The purpose of cruelty is enslavement. Enslavement is the perfect result of selfishness and there is no love in it! No MAN will remain a slave if there is any way out.
It doesn't take much time to come up with living examples of people we know, both men and women, who withhold, deny, and fight, to keep their significant other from one or more of these loves. Think about them momentarily and you'll notice a few similarities. They are very unhappy, hurt and hopeless. They chase fulfillment in other ways/things, and are never satisfied. They are probably on your prayer list!

Point of Focus

2009-06-11T21:26:00.000-07:00

If the photographer focused on the dark background the flower would have become blurred.

This is going to be a different kind of post for me. This is not coming from out of some cerebral cleverness, but from a long worked out churning in my spirit. I cannot attest to the fact that it is finished, but some important points have finally come into focus. I want to get them down so as to have a solid foundation to build on.

It is so easy to FOCUS on light. Even while still in my mother's womb, I could see no light, but I could feel the darkness in my soul. We are so sensitive to light and drawn by it, because it overpowers our senses and obliterates the darkness. This is the reason why the prophecy of Christ's birth stands out from all of the others prophetic scriptures.
ISA 9:2 The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.

ISA 9:3 You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as men rejoice
when dividing the plunder.

ISA 9:4 For as in the day of Midian's defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.

This is the reason (Luke 1:41) When Elizabeth [the mother of John the Baptist] heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. John knew immediately the presence of that great light. Later, as a man, surrounded by the darkness of prision, John lost FOCUS and fell into of doubt. MT 11:2 When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"

MT 11:4 Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 6 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."
Jesus set is FOCUS back on the light!

I have been in a small bit of a darkness for a couple of years now. I knew it was true but could not put my finger on it. It is actually possible for the Christian to be depressed, although difficult. I made this statement to my Pastor recently and his take was that it is a "conflict of interest" for the Christian. It is so because in Christ there is hope, and all things are new. His mercies are new every morning, and in his presence there is joy. All of these things are true and it is often sung, "turn your eyes upon Jesus and the things of the world will go strangely dim". We however walk in the spirit through a dark and dying world, and live in a body. I could stop here and say "consider the lillys...", "think ye on these things, whatsoever is lovely...", and be done with it: lesson learned. The depth of the truth would be lost and forgotten as soon you click the little red "close" box in the upper right corner. The impersonal shallowness would insulate me, but be of no service to the reader.
First I want to say, I think depression is mourning the loss of life. In this case it is one's own life. I'm thinking it would be the result of bad decisions or situations that have reduced the hoped for fullness and richness of life. The song "wasted years" comes to mind here. In such as state one is putting themselves in a coffin. A difficult condition to maintain when you have the uplifting life giving resurrection power of the Holy Spirit living in you! Never the less there is a time for mourning. Mourning is needed to put a loss behind you so as to move on.
My coffin is different though. It is a coffin with both ends knocked out, also called a rut! This rut seems to be dug in a circle. There are actually several of these, in which, I'm walking at the same time.
You've heard that definition of insanity, where insanity is: "doing the same thing you always did, in the same way you always did it, and expecting a different result". What could be more insane than spending your life going around and around a circular rut.
Does anyone remember that movie where an American got caught trying to smuggle hashish out of Turkey. He ends up in a prison walking round-n-round a circle, and told the broken machines must stay on the path. They attempt to institutionalise him. A visit from his love helps him reFOCUS reality and he breaks in the other direction. He plans an escape, from the prison, and announces "he's going, to go, to the place, where they fix the broken machines". Lets go there.
I have two jobs both pretty much full time, low level, menial task. Of course the Bible says, "MT 6:24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other....". Those words come from Jesus. You just know they've got to be truth! They are truth! I love on of these jobs and hate the other. I will use my enjoyment and lack thereof to illustrate how FOCUS can influence joy and depression.
Job #1 I've done for 18 years. I stock shelves third shift in a grocery store. I have taken on the responsibility of being the overnight boss, but the mundane menial repetition is maddening. Round and round in a circle we go. Bring in the load, put it on the floor, put it on the shelf: repeat! The only thing that ever changes are the supporting cast of people I work with. If I do my job of training them properly, they become clones of each and every co-worker previous. The problems I encounter and solve on this job are trivial, unnoticed, and forgotten. Notoriety is almost always a bad thing, insignificance is a virtue, but an almost unbearable humility. The darkness I go into each night is a weight. If we have done our job properly the bosses of the daylight never have to bear us in mind.
Job #2 I have done construction and remodeling since, I put nails into siding, on a barbershop, at age 5. I have done similar Job #2 only 5 months. It would be too easy to think that I haven't yet had time to observe the rut. While, it is possible there may be a rut yet to develope, it will be a straight line rut, not a circle. On job #2 I maintain 27 "timeshare" condominiums. They have aged and need some reconstruction and much repair. Each task is different however, and although it is sometimes performed 27 time over, at the end, it will not have to be done again in my career. There is a sense of progress and accomplishment. AS time goes by, and tasks are completed, the property looks increasing better. Variety yields excitement and accomplishment stokes pride. Compared to the suppression of the night job, the day job is a lightness of being!
O.K. I laid it on pretty thick, but the result put you into my shoes and mood in each case. Why bother you with all of this because all of the institutions of life are the same way. And our enjoyment of them is a matter of FOCUS.
Didn't your thoughts shout at the screen, "why not quit Job#1, and just do Job #2, if its that bad"? Well, I thought the same thing. I discovered, that in answering that question, my displeasure was a matter of FOCUS. The grocery job has twice the pay, all of the extra-benefits, job security, and prospect for advancement. It enables me to enjoy the day job without all of the other pressures. That is not to say that the maintenance job could not be built into one with greater pay, security, and advancement potential. Breaking out of a rut takes some work and planning though. The American in the Turkish prison movie did not just decide on a whim to make a break for it. He saved, planned, had help from the outside and bought help on the inside. (I don't remember it in the movie, but you better believe that a person in his situation prayed to God for aid as well!)He waited until all of the pieces came together at the right moment, then he made a break.
I mentioned that I'm walking several institutional ruts simultaneously, some hand in hand with others. Grieving be done. It is time to focus on the lillys. Focus on looking into God's eyes. FOCUS on the good aspects of the current institutions, and make an exit strategy. Work a plan, assemble the pieces, pray, and go for the breaks, as each one comes.

"An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered; an adventure is an inconvenience rightly considered." G.K.Chesterton

Quote of note from May 2009

2009-06-09T03:59:00.000-07:00

" If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear"
George Orwell

The Knowledge of Good and Evil : Knowledge of God

2009-06-08T09:20:00.000-07:00

How many people have said to you, "How can you believe in an all knowing, all powerful, all loving God, when there is so much evil in the world"?
In seeing all of the evil they fail to see the good around them. The typical apologetic answer for such a person is to point their eyes to the good saying, "how do you know there is "evil" except that there is "good" by which to draw a contrast? How do you know that there is "good" except that there is a "moral law" by which to differentiate between "good" and "evil"? How can there be a "moral law" except that there be a "moral Law" giver, which is God? No God - no moral law, no moral law - no good, no good - no evil! If you believe in evil you must believe in God!

It is interesting that in the Garden of Eden, when there was no "evil", and there was full knowledge of God, there was also implanted, in the very first act of evil, the seed for the acknowledgement of God. The very act of rebellion, that was the first sin, included the sequence for not being able to deny that God existed!

GE 2:9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil... GE 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."...
GE 3:4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Knowing good and evil makes it impossible to deny the existence of God, the giver of the laws of morality.

When Adam and Eve did sin they instantly know the difference between right and wrong.
GE:9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" 10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." 11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

When God said, "who told you that you were naked", it was like saying how did you know that it was wrong/evil be naked?
Then God went on to prove that he was all loving. Speaking to Satan in the serpent he said."GE 3:15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel."
This was the first promise of Christ the Redeemer of mankind from the bondage of Satan and sin.

"Plainly speaking, there are only four possible worlds. The first is that there be no creation at all. Would it not have been better for God to have not created a world than to have created ours—where good and evil are both possibilities? The second is a world where only good is permitted, a kind of robotically beneficent universe. The third option is a world where there is no such thing as good or evil, an amoral world. There, right and wrong would not even be legitimate categories for consideration. The fourth is the world that we live in, where good and evil exist with the possibility of choosing either.In the final analysis, our world is the only one where love is genuinely possible because freedom is a precondition for authentic love. We intuitively recognize that love is the supreme ethic and where love is possible, freedom is necessary. Where freedom is real, so is the possibility of suffering.{Four Possible Worlds, Ravi Zacharias}

So why would God create such a world? He would create such a world because he was all knowing, all powerful, and all loving! What other kind of world could he have created where real love between creation and Creator could freely exist, but this one completed through the suffering on the Cross of Calvary.

"Your Old Men Shall Dream Dreams"

2009-05-26T13:29:00.000-07:00

O.K. So you KNOW you're old when God thinks your old! Yeah, that's what happened to me last week. I had a God given dream, not a vision. If it was a vision I could still claim to be young.
JOEL 2:28 ...I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.

I work two jobs 1st and 3rd shift. I sleep from 5pm-10pm everyday. I'm usually pretty tired and go right into deep sleep. I wake up with the alarm clock. There is no in between stage where most people have REM and remember their dreams. On my night off I sleep longer, maybe as late as 3am. That was the case Tue a week ago when I had this dream.

The Dream
I was driving north on the country road that I grew up on. Behind me to the left (drivers side) I saw a black line in the sky. Then I realized it was a swarm or flock. Suddenly it dove straight down to the ground. The car and landscape around was immediately filled with locusts and I realized that I was wearing a mask. The mask was like the medical masks that everyone is wearing for SARS and swine flu. On the side of the mask there were numbers, part of an automatic counting system, that numbered the number of times one had been bitten, stung, and swallowed bugs. Now the reason that I was in the car was to go pick up someone at school. When I got to the school it was more like a dormitory. My passenger turned out to be a Hispanic teenager. The school suddenly hit by the locust swarm was in panic. As the boy and I headed to the car people began dying. He got in the back seat and we left. Before we got out of the parking lot he died. I picked up a teenage girl who was going to her grandmothers house. The grandmother lived in a small old Cape style house all grown up with flowers and roses, like something out of a Thomas Kinkade painting. She met the girl at the door went inside and died. Then the girl died. A large fluffy cat came out of the house, now orphaned. I picked up the cat, put it into the backseat of the car, and headed home. The cat died. I woke up!
The dream troubled me for several days. I told two people that I work with about it. By Friday the troublesomeness of the dream had let me go. Then came Sunday.
Sunday I went to Church. The pastor was finishing up a series about our churches 100 year anniversary (history, people, efforts, and going forward). He is moving into a series on showing Jesus to the lost by becoming like Jesus, you know, the 5th Gospel. (“There are five Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the Christian, and some people will never read the first four.”
Irish Evangelist Gypsy Smith).
Well Pastor has been meeting with a group of pastors from the area for prayer every week. There is a general feeling among the group that God is about to do something big! He used this to segway from one series to the next and brought in the often quoted 2CH 7:14 which says,
"14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there."
The idea was that our 100 year old church had been consecrated to him so that God's name, eyes, and heart would always be there. And that some great revival and growth was about to take place. He didn't stop there though. He called special attention to verse 13. This verse often gets left off when people quote this passage of scripture. It says,
"When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, v 14..."
I sat there just stunned. So that is what the troubling dream was about! The locusts my not be actual bugs, but could be any manner of judgement; economy, terrorist action, natural disaster with national consequences, crop failure, and drought. The plague may be something as simple as a growth in swine flu. ( I think it must include animals though, because of the cat, in the dream) God is about to move! His people called by his name are about to get humble, really humble and pray, really pray, "then will he hear from heaven..."
It is about to happen. The Cloud/Pillar of Fire is lifting and is about to move. Get ready we're going to the mountain by way of the valley.

2CH 7:13 "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there

So I guess I'm A Terrorist: Not

2009-05-19T03:26:00.000-07:00

On April 4th 2009 Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano issued a report to all law enforcement agency's in the country. The report was warning them to be on the lookout for individuals or groups which might become domestic terrorists.
What is shocking about this report is that at the beginning of each section it starts out taking about extremist groups, recruiting and potential anti-government actions they might take, but then suggests that "Joe Christian" and "Joe Republican" might join them. It does this by attaching the issues we believe into the issues of domestic extremists Groups. The whole purpose of the report is to stigmatize the moral "political right" and Christians as extremist anti-government terrorist hate groups.
If, you believe; in the Second amendment right to bear arms as a personal right, if you are anti-abortion, if you disagree with a completely open border immigration policy, if you believe that the Bible teaches there will soon be a "One World Government" ruled by the AntiChrist, if you believe in marriage as "one man and one woman"; if you are a returning Iraqi War Vet., then The Department of Homeland Security believes you will be among those involved in the next big bombing of a government building.
How fitting that the Party opposed to the establishment of the DHS, because they saw potential for abuse against Americans, is the party that so eagerly embraced abusing its power. There is nothing in the report about American (domestic) Islamic groups, or the recruiting of American boys for transport to foreign Islamic schools.
Some parts of the report seem to telegraph what the Administration is planning to do, and they are preparing for resistance to it. The report also shows who will be scrutinized if something bad does happen in response to administration actions.
This is nothing new in the history of the World. It has happened to God's people throughout history.

Haman and Xerxes
Ester 3:5 When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. 6 Yet having learned who Mordecai's people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai's people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes...
EST 3:8 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, "There is a certain people dispersed and scattered among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom whose customs are different from those of all other people and who do not obey the king's laws; it is not in the king's best interest to tolerate them. 9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them...
EST 3:12 Then on the thirteenth day of the first month the royal secretaries were summoned. They wrote out in the script of each province and in the language of each people all Haman's orders to the king's satraps, the governors of the various provinces and the nobles of the various peoples. These were written in the name of King Xerxes himself and sealed with his own ring. 13 Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews--young and old, women and little children--on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. 14 A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so they would be ready for that day.

Daniel
Daniel 6:3 Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. 4 At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. 5 Finally these men said, "We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God."

DA 6:6 So the administrators and the satraps went as a group to the king and said: "O King Darius, live forever! 7 The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or man during the next thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the lions' den. 8 Now, O king, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered--in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed." 9 So King Darius put the decree in writing.

Jewish Leaders and to Pilate
Luke 22:70 They all asked, "Are you then the Son of God?"
He replied, "You are right in saying I am."
LK 22:71 Then they said, "Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips."
LK 23:1 Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, "We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king."
LK 23:3 So Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.
LK 23:4 Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no basis for a charge against this man."
LK 23:5 But they insisted, "He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here."

Hitler
Hitler did not just come to power and start killing Jews. He first had to turn the national anger against them. He blamed them for the Economic Depression that Germany and the World was in. He started this by saying that the Jews owned and controlled the banks and would not lend out the money. Does this sound familiar? He used their blessing prosperity and tightness of community against them. That was just the beginning they were labeled as anti-Germany and anti-Government. Sound familiar?
Remember that the Nazi's got their name from The Nationalist Socialist Party. They were Socialist's, not right wing, but left wing! They were labeled "Right Wing" by the Stalin government who was angry that Hitler and Germany would not come under the authority of socialist mother Russia.

Below I have compiled parts of the report for you to read. It should be noted that the report has not been recalled. It doesn't matter, the damage has been done and her position has been exposed. I'm sure the pressure put on her job for issuing the report will only strengthen her resolve.
Issued on April 7th, the DHS warning is entitled: “Right wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.”

“Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.”
Paralleling the current national climate, rightwing extremists during the
1990s exploited a variety of social issues and political themes to increase group visibility
and recruit new members. Prominent among these themes were the militia movement’s
opposition to gun control efforts, criticism of free trade agreements (particularly those
with Mexico), and highlighting perceived government infringement on civil liberties as
well as white supremacists’ longstanding exploitation of social issues such as abortion,
inter-racial crimes, and same-sex marriage. During the 1990s, these issues contributed to
the growth in the number of domestic rightwing terrorist and extremist groups and an
increase in violent acts targeting government facilities, law enforcement officers, banks,
and infrastructure sectors.Historically, domestic rightwing extremists have feared, predicted, and
anticipated a cataclysmic economic collapse in the United States. Prominent
antigovernment conspiracy theorists have incorporated aspects of an impending
economic collapse to intensify fear and paranoia among like-minded individuals and to
attract recruits during times of economic uncertainty. Conspiracy theories involving
declarations of martial law, impending civil strife or racial conflict, suspension of the
U.S. Constitution, and the creation of citizen detention camps often incorporate aspects of
a failed economy. Antigovernment conspiracy theories and “end times” prophecies could
motivate extremist individuals and groups to stockpile food, ammunition, and weapons.
These teachings also have been linked with the radicalization of domestic extremist
individuals and groups in the past, such as violent Christian Identity organizations and
extremist members of the militia movement.Rightwing extremists were concerned during the 1990s with the perception
that illegal immigrants were taking away American jobs through their willingness to
work at significantly lower wages. They also opposed free trade agreements, arguing that
these arrangements resulted in Americans losing jobs to countries such as Mexico.Many rightwing extremist groups perceive recent gun control legislation as a
threat to their right to bear arms and in response have increased weapons and ammunition
stockpiling, as well as renewed participation in paramilitary training exercises. Such
activity, combined with a heightened level of extremist paranoia, has the potential to
facilitate criminal activity and violence.On the current front, legislation has been proposed this year
requiring mandatory registration of all firearms in the United States. Similar
legislation was introduced in 2008 in several states proposing mandatory tagging
and registration of ammunition. It is unclear if either bill will be passed into law;
nonetheless, a correlation may exist between the potential passage of gun control
legislation and increased hoarding of ammunition, weapons stockpiling, and
paramilitary training activities among rightwing extremists.(U//FOUO) Rightwing extremist paranoia of foreign regimes could escalate or be
magnified in the event of an economic crisis or military confrontation, harkening back to
the “New World Order” conspiracy theories of the 1990s. The dissolution of Communist
countries in Eastern Europe and the end of the Soviet Union in the 1990s led some
rightwing extremists to believe that a “New World Order” would bring about a world
government that would usurp the sovereignty of the United States and its Constitution,
thus infringing upon their liberty. The dynamics in 2009 are somewhat similar, as other
countries, including China, India, and Russia, as well as some smaller, oil-producing
states, are experiencing a rise in economic power and influence.
— (U//FOUO) Fear of Communist regimes and related conspiracy theories
characterizing the U.S. Government’s role as either complicit in a foreign
invasion or acquiescing as part of a “One World Government” plan inspired
extremist members of the militia movement to target government and military
facilities in past years.(U//FOUO) DHS/I&A assesses that rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and
radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from
military training and combat. These skills and knowledge have the potential to boost the
capabilities of extremists—including lone wolves or small terrorist cells—to carry out
violence. The willingness of a small percentage of military personnel to join extremist
groups during the 1990s because they were disgruntled, disillusioned, or suffering from
the psychological effects of war is being replicated today.Outlook
(U//FOUO) DHS/I&A assesses that the combination of environmental factors that echo
the 1990s, including heightened interest in legislation for tighter firearms restrictions and
returning military veterans, as well as several new trends, including an uncertain
economy and a perceived rising influence of other countries, may be invigorating
rightwing extremist activity, specifically the white supremacist and militia movements.
To the extent that these factors persist, rightwing extremism is likely to grow in strength.
(U//FOUO) Unlike the earlier period, the advent of the Internet and other informationage
technologies since the 1990s has given domestic extremists greater access to
information related to bomb-making, weapons training, and tactics, as well as targeting of
individuals, organizations, and facilities, potentially making extremist individuals and
groups more dangerous and the consequences of their violence more severe. New
technologies also permit domestic extremists to send and receive encrypted
communications and to network with other extremists throughout the country and abroad,
making it much more difficult for law enforcement to deter, prevent, or preempt a violent
extremist attack.
(U//FOUO) A number of law enforcement actions and external factors were effective in
limiting the militia movement during the 1990s and could be utilized in today’s climate.
— (U//FOUO) Following the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal
building in Oklahoma City, the militia movement declined in total membership
and in the number of organized groups because many members distanced
themselves from the movement as a result of the intense scrutiny militias received

Quote from March/April

2009-05-12T03:47:00.001-07:00

Crucifixion was humiliating. It was so humiliating that the Romans who specialized in the art of torture assured their own citizenry that a Roman could never be crucified. But not only was it humiliating, it was excruciating. In fact, the very word “excruciating” comes from two Latin words: ex cruciatus, or “out of the cross.” Crucifixion was the defining word for pain. Does that not give us pause in this season before us? Think of it: humiliation and agony. This was the path Jesus chose with which to reach out for you and me.

Ravi Zacharias

All Things Held Together

2009-04-22T02:33:00.000-07:00

COL 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and IN HIM ALL THINGS HOLD TOGETHER. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

On a Physical Level
All of creation sings his glory... By him all things were made and have their existence... He is light..In the beginning God..." It seems that every scientific discipline confirms this when it gets advanced enough to observe the origins of the physical world.
At the sub-atomic level scientists have discovered everything is made up of Quark's. Up, Down, Charm, Strange, Top, Bottom Incidentally "Quarks possess a property called color charge. There are three types of color charge, arbitrarily labeled blue, green and red. Each of them is complemented by an anti-color—anti blue, anti green and anti red. Each quark carries a color, while each anti quark carries an anti color... the combination of three quarks, each with a different color charge, will similarly result in a "white" color charge" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quark) So they behave as light. God IS LIGHT.
The Higgs boson particle, which is not yet to be observed, is sometimes called the "God" particle. It gives mass to everything and in theoretical physics is the "answer to everything".
I have always considered that at the end of Armageddon, God will simply let all of the atoms on the surface of this Earth simply fly apart and then reform/reassemble into what they were "In the Beginning". The recreation would eliminate radiation, chemical waste, Biological weapons, man's scars on the Earth, Pagan artifacts, re-establish protective ozone and eco-balance, recreate extinct species, etc. It is interesting that such a graphic is used in the commercials for the movie "The Day The Earth Stood Still".(I have not seen this movie, only the commercials.)

On a Biological Level

Part of the Physical realm is biology. An excellent message has been working its way around the Net. That message is that at the center of living breathing life is a molecule shaped like a "cross" which holds/glues all of our cells together. In one microscopic view of this molecule it looks like Christ hanging on the cross. (A link is provided at the end of this post)

On a Social Level

William Butler Yeats was a Neo-Pagan poet. He was one of 5 founding members of a cult that I call Satan's Ecumenical group. They took everything bad from around the world and rolled it into one religious system. Most of todays notorious cults (Christ Science, Scientology, Divine Light, Solar Temple, Anything beginning with the word "golden" as in Golden Dawn) can be traced to associations/discipleship with these five people. (Crowley, Mathers, Blavatsky, Pound are the other 4 primary members)
Yates believed that God is reincarnated over and over and that the AntiChrist is really going to be another incarnation of Jesus Christ. His most famous poem is "The Second Coming"

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Yates believed that as the "Falcon" (Christianity) lost its hearing of the Falconer (Christ) things would begin to fly apart on a social level. The progression of anarchy would give rise to the AntiChrist.

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.

Now here is a link worth watchin on Laminin!
http://thin-edge.org/2008/06/11/louie-giglio-laminin-molecule-declares-gods-glory/

A Higher Shoe

2009-03-25T02:41:00.000-07:00

Well, no sooner had I made my last post when Ben Bernacke of the Federal reserve announce that the "Fed" would buy up 1 trillion $ of those bonds floating around out there. Bernie Madoff's lawyer just fell out of his chair. The government has entered the Ponzi scheme business. The Fed is printing money to buy up the printed money of the Treasury. HHMMMM!
Here on Cape Cod, and I'm sure in other places too, a scheme became popular where a criminal would open up several checking accounts at different banks with overdraft protection. After drawing down the majority of the required opening deposit, he/she would begin to write checks to themselves rolling one bank at a time. The proceeds would be dumped into the last bank in the chain. The checks would get bigger and bigger until, finally they withdrew the funds and left the second to the last bank holding the bad paper. Timing for banking holidays and week ends was the crucial part of the whole scheme. One bank on Nantucket got stuck with a $14,000 bad check.
One has to wonder if "Bernie Bernacke" and "Ben Madoff" ever shared a ferry ride to the island for a summer vacation, picked up the newspaper, on a certain day, when the check ponzi scheme on that Nantucket bank was announced. I wonder if the both went, "HHMMMM"!
One has really got to wonder how the Fed plans to eventually unwinde thier new position in junk securities. You cannot even sell a million a day to get out of a trillion. Some congressman recently made the statement that, " if you spent a million dollars a day since Jesus was born, you still would not have spent a trillion"!
The shoe to drop just got raised a little higher!

Next Shoe: Answer to Prayer

2009-03-18T02:22:00.000-07:00

Praying to a God of Free Will
If you have ever prayed for another, who is in desperate need of God to repair/restore their lives, you know that you are dependent on that person allowing God to come in and work. This is because God is a gentlemen, a God of free will, and love uncompelled. There is no love in compulsion! You pray and pray for God to cause that person to give up what ever destructive habit they have, and it seems like they just do it all the more. You start to think that God is not answering your prayers, when in fact he is. Be encouraged, greatly encouraged! When the object of your prayer hits bottom and realizes its death, or God rehab and revival, then you will get the answer you have longed to hear.
How many of us are praying for friends, relatives, neighbors, and country, to return to God. How many times have we quoted 2 Chronicles 7:14 ? 2CH 7:13 "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
Is not the present economy and advance by America's enemies the result of the shutting up of heaven? Are we not God's people called by the name of CHRISTians? And are our bodies not "temples" of the Holy Spirit so that his "name may be there forever"? Of course, and it follows that his "eyes will be open his ears attentive", and " his eyes and heart will always be there"!

Bonds
Now then we have heard whispers this week of a collapse in the Bond Market. The debt of this nation is supported by selling treasury bonds. Companies, states, and municipalities also sell bonds to raise money for projects. In the past these have been the single safest way to save money and receive a small return on your investment. A portion of all good investment portfolios should have some bonds. The percentage of bonds, compared to other types of investments, should increase with the age of the investor.
The Bonds of the United States, of late, have been mostly purchased by China and the Arab oil producers. (See my post "Pieces of the Puzzle Nov. 19, 2008 for more on that subject http://meditationsfromthethirdshift.blogspot.com/2008/11/pieces-of-puzzle.html) Those bond holding nations are a little nervous about the value of our dollar right now. There is no possible way that the United States could sell enough bond to finance the last two economic stimulus packages. They are just too huge. Those stimulus packages are being paid for by straight out printing of dollars! We are currently getting away with it because much of those packages is in the form of loans to troubled industry (fannie, freddy, GM, Chrysler, Ford, AIG, Citigroup, etc) And because other important currency nations such as the E.U. and England have done the same thing, helping to keep our dollar stable comparatively.
If U.S bailed out industry were to begin defaulting on their loans, and go into bankruptcy, two things would happen: the dollar would fall, and interest rates would race upward.
Interest rates would rise because those nations buying/holding our bonds would lose money if they continued buying and holding. When they stop buying our debt and start selling it we have to pay a higher yield (percentage rate) to continue borrowing (finance the deficit). Private interest rates you pay on small business loans, home mortgages, and credit cards are set by adding percentage points to the interest rate of U.S. Treasury Bonds. If the cost of U.S. debt goes up so does yours!
The falling dollar and rising interest rates will have a second major impact on the lives of Americans: INFLATION! Since we run a trade deficit,(buy more than we sell), we will have to pay more dollars for everything we import.

Total Crash
The effect of these forces on the U.S. and eventually the rest of the world will be TOTAL CRASH! A useless dollar would send the U.S. and the World from recession into global depression. I would expect that some psychopath politicians and nations would, as in the past, take military advantage of such a global situation.

Prophetic Expectations

We expect that some scenario just like this will lead to the rise in prominence of the E.U. world throne of the coming AntiChrist. The U.S. must take a back seat for that to completely happen. We expect that to all lead to a global cooperative government.
We expect a great "latter rain" revival to prepare the Bride of Christ "without spot, wrinkle, or blemish". The latter rain ripes and prepares the crop for harvest. The wheat and tares can easily be separated when the heads become ripe.
We expect an attack against Isreal by Gog, Magog, Meschesh, and Tabul.
It is not possible to know for certain if this is the moment, but we see the signs and know the seasons. It sure looks like the time is at hand. A crash in the U.S. bond market could set it all off: humanity racing like lemmings off the cliff of Revelations and Armageddon. The stage is set. The actors are in place.

Back to Praying for Revival
So you've been praying for a great awakening revival. God is hearing you. This materialistic, narcissist, hedonistic nation still is not ready to face the death of self and submission to the God who made them great and rich. America has not hit bottom yet. The next shoe to drop is dangling high in the air, held onto by just the tip of the laces. Don't lose heart now keep praying. And keep preparing, getting ready, to disciple the coming prodigal sons back into the Fathers house. They are about to begin eating pig slop to survive. Then will their thoughts turn back to their loving Father and his care for his servants. Then will they drag their motley humbled selves back into his waiting loving arms!! Lift up your hands and praise the Lord he is about to pour out the blessing of answered prayer upon America.

Quote from Feb. 09

2009-03-07T02:05:00.001-08:00

“There are five Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the Christian, and some people will never read the first four.”
Irish Evangelist Gypsy Smith

Moving Faster

2009-03-06T03:27:00.000-08:00

In...his 2010 budget plans, President Obama proposed limiting the value of the tax break for itemized deductions, including donations to charity, to 28 percent for families making more than $250,000. In other words, taxpayers would save 28 cents on their federal income taxes for each dollar donated.

That would reduce by as much as 20 percent the amount wealthy taxpayers could get in tax breaks. Under the current system, taxpayers who are in the 33 percent or 35 percent tax brackets use that rate to claim deductions.(The Chronicle of Philanthropy)

Why do I even bring this up? It seems like a small "limit the deduction and tax the rich" piece of legislation. Look a little deeper and beyond the present. Think of this as just the begining. In a Socialist nation the government takes control of everything. It is cradle to grave care for the people, but it is also cradle to grave dependence on the government: enslavement.
Imagine if this popular trend were to continue on a slippery slope. Deductions for charitable contributions were reduced further, and people greatly reduced thier giving. After all this is an increasingly selfish generation. The services now provided by the losing charities would be replaced by government $$ and programs. Those in need of the services would become more enslaved to the government, but more importantly THE GOVERNMENT WOULD CONTROL WHICH CHARITY GOT TO CONTINUE ITS WORK!!
Government replacement of charity work of course would completely be secularized. No religious organization would be allowed to receive anything! I'd say take the word charity, meaning love, out, and replace it with "social program", or in a word: SOCIALISM!
Now I don't think that this means all ouf our churches would close up. It doesn't matter if there is a tax deduction or not, our tithe belongs to God. The little people who go to church and love God are still going to give to its support. Its the bigger organizations that receive large sums from wealthy individuals and corperations that will be lost. Another group that will suffer are the politically and legally active pro-God organizations. I think these are the main targets of this begining legislation.
It is amazing that only 6 weeks into the Obama government, the thought process is so well developed and planned, that this idea would already be into the works. With a Socialist controlled Senate, House and White House, there is nothing in the way to stop this downhill race. This nation is certainly moving fast toward a Godless fate!

I had to edit this post because I forgot to include that the United States is giving 900 million dollars to rebuild the Gaza strip. This money will all end up in the hands of Hamas and be used to rocket and bomb Israel. Why will Hamas get the money? Because they are in complete control of the Gaza strip. The more Israel is backed into a corner alone, surrounded by its enemies, the closer to the end we get!
In addition to the Hamas money, the Obama Administration has announced that it will begin negotiations with Assyria and the Taliban! That right the same Taliban that is responsible for Osama Bin Laden and thre World Trade Tower distruction of 9/11.
If Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, and Nancy Pelosi put on a Burkka, I'm moving to Australia!!!

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness..."

2009-02-11T03:31:00.000-08:00

In January it was announced that scientists had created self-replicating RNA. I first heard this on National Public Radio. There the announcer gushed about having found the origins of life and Richard Dawkins being right. Gerald Joyce of the Scripps Research Institute had this to say about his teams work:

""So long as you provide the building blocks and the starter seed, it goes forever. It is immortalized molecular information.

[The] chemicals are technically hacked RNA enzymes, much like the ones we have in our bodies, but they don't behave anything like those in living creatures. But, these synthetic RNA replicators do provide a model for evolution — and shed light on one step in the development of early living systems from on a lifeless globe.

"More fundamentally, to mimic biology, a molecule must gain new functions on the fly, without laboratory tinkering. It doesn't have open-ended capacity for Darwinian evolution.

Obviously what we're trying to do is make a biology. [We} hopes to imbue [this] molecule with all the fundamental properties of life: self-replication, evolution, and function.
Gerald Joyce in New Scientist http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16382-artificial-molecule-evolves-in-the-lab.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

Now there are three big points that I would like to make here.
First, when the engineer "hacks" takes from what is already in existence and makes something new with it, he demonstrates that he was made "...in [God's]... image, in ... likeness..."
Second, according to Chandra Wickramasinghe, Professor of Applied Mathematics and Astronomy at the Cardiff University of Wales, "if you were to take the information density just in the human enzyme and analyze the complexity of information, as a mathematician you will come to the very quick conclusion that the possibility of that language coming together [by accident]is one in ten to the forty thousandth power.
That compares to the estimated number of atoms in the universe at 4x10 to the 79th power and 1x10 to the 81st power.
So the improbability of this happening by accident is greater than the total number of atoms in the universe. DUH!
Third to prove that life began on its own, they still have to have matter that accidentally comes into existance on its own.

Quote of note from January 09

2009-02-04T03:01:00.001-08:00

Plainly speaking, there are only four possible worlds. The first is that there be no creation at all. Would it not have been better for God to have not created a world than to have created ours—where good and evil are both possibilities? The second is a world where only good is permitted, a kind of robotically beneficent universe. The third option is a world where there is no such thing as good or evil, an amoral world. There, right and wrong would not even be legitimate categories for consideration. The fourth is the world that we live in, where good and evil exist with the possibility of choosing either.In the final analysis, our world is the only one where love is genuinely possible because freedom is a precondition for authentic love. We intuitively recognize that love is the supreme ethic and where love is possible, freedom is necessary. Where freedom is real, so is the possibility of suffering.

Four Possible Worlds
Wednesday, March 01, 2000
Ravi Zacharias

Why Pro Life ?

2009-02-04T02:22:00.000-08:00

Given the recent action in Washington D.C. to; refund Planned Parenthood ($250 million), and call it economic stimulus, to pay for overseas abortions, and to force Doctors to give abortions, regardless of the "dictates of their conscience", I think it is a good time to repost this piece from June of 2006.

Why I Decided To Be Pro-Life

While it has been more than 25 years since Roe v Wade became the landmark Court decision on which legalized abortions are performed, they have been being performed since at least 1778 in America. I hold the belief that this shedding of innocent blood will eventually lead to the destruction, exile, and slavery of America. As a Christian it should be that all opinions and claims be supported by scripture.
Before I begin I want to make it clear that this is not intended to in any way to be condemning or guilt inflicting on my readers. I would hope that this writing would become a preventive "shedding of light" into a dark corner, and give scriptural information to help you make an intelligent argument against abortion. If in reading conviction is brought on the reader, then offer a prayer of repentance and move on. Christ's shed blood for the forgiveness of sins is greater than any of them, and "there is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..." (Romans 8:1). Seek Christian counsel if need be.
Rationalizing Life
Regardless of the reason given, for having or performing an abortion, one must first come to terms with whether it is right or wrong to do so, and will there someday be a reckoning. In that process there are three possible rationalizations that I can think of that can be made. (1) there is no God. We all evolved from amoeba monkeys and are all sophisticated animals with no real purpose, moral absolutes, or destiny of reckoning. (2) the fetus is not a life until it is in some stage of development or birthed. (3) That the aborted fetus will be sent back to God and reincarnated into another womb with a better chance of survival.
Rationalization #1 is simple Atheism. The Bible's answers to that rationalization are, "In the beginning God...."Genesis Chap 1 &2, and "The fool has said in his heart that there is no God"(Psalms 14:1) That is all the argument I am going to present it is all that is needed for the Christian.
Rationalization #3 is known as the belief in reincarnation. There is no basis for reincarnation in the Bible. It is Eastern philosophy and heavily put into practice during times of famines, when babies were thrown into the river (sent back to God) to be reborn in better times, or at the death of the father, the practice of "suttee". The Bible says bluntly, "it is appointed unto man ONCE to die, but after this the judgment"(Hebrews 9:27). As for Eastern philosophy God says, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligent I will frustrate". (Isaiah 29:14) ,and, "where is the wise man? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has God not made foolish the wisdom of the wise?"(1Corinthians 1:20), and, "There is a way (path) that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death". (Proverbs 14:12). Buddhism is known as "a path" or "a way".Jesus said that, He ..."Is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."(John14:6).
Now for argument #2. This is the rationalization most often used by liberal politicians to justify a pro abortion stance. It is the question of when does life begin in the womb. ( If California Rep. Nancy Pelosi is to be heard that life does not begin until the "child goes home from the Hospital". Obviously to her life is a verb not a noun and that kicking, turning and thumbsucking in the womb is not action, and certainly not interaction with the mother!! This is the beginning of political argument for Post Birth abortion in America. What is the difference between that and child sacrifice.) I offer this scriptural evidence of Life at the very moment of conception. It comes from the wombs of Mary the mother of Jesus and Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist. I think that it is the single best passage of Bible scripture that speaks against abortion. Luke 1:35 -45. It starts with the angel coming to Mary to tell her that she would give birth to the Messiah:

LK 1:35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God."
LK 1:38 "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.
LK 1:39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"
There is an astonishing occurrence here. First of all, the "spirits" of John the Baptist and Jesus had to be present in the womb for this to take place. If the spirit is in the body no matter how developed, isn't that life? Don't we say that when the spirit departs from the body that death has occurred? Then why do we not speak the truth and say that life occurs when the spirit enters the body? In verse 36 we find out that John the Baptist is 6 months in his mothers womb. Between verses 38 and 39 no time has elapsed: the angel leaves Mary and "at that time" she goes to see Elizabeth. Then at the moment that Mary enters the home and says, ["Hello"], Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and John the Baptist leaps in the womb. When John leapt for joy in the womb, at the presence of his creator, would it not be fair to say that he worshipped Jesus? John 4:24 says that, "...God is spirit and must be worshiped in spirit". Here we have the spirits of Jesus, John the Baptist and , the Holy Spirit in the womb!! Here is Mary carrying the hours old fetus of Jesus and John the Baptist 3 months before being born knowing that the source of life and spiritual life has just entered his presence. In a sense the "age of accountability for John the Baptist was three months before he was born. Now those are two pretty powerful examples of LIFE in the womb.

Paganism and Witchcraft

My next argument against abortion Is what I call the anti Witchcraft argument. We are taught in the Bible to have nothing to do with witchcraft and the Occult. What does that have to do with abortion?
I looked up the word "abortion" or "abhorsion" in Oxfords Unabridged Dictionary. Along with the definition Oxford's gives the first usages found in English and American literature.
(1) the act of giving untimely birth to offspring, premature delivery, miscarriage; the procuring of premature delivery so as to destroy offspring.
First uses:
1547 Broorde "Brev Health iii" Abhorsion is when a women is delyvered of her chylde before her tyme.
1646 Sir T. Browne "Physitions...Promise therein a virtue against abortion".
1778 Robertson "America I, IV. 297. "The women by the use of certain herbs procure frequent abortions".
The 1778 usage is interesting in the light of witchcraft and the Puritan condemnation of herbal medicines and magic spells. Throughout the middle ages such herbal concoctions were compiled into a practice known as homoeopathy. The name homoeopathy was not attached until 1800. Those Homeopathic practitioners owe their craft to countless occultic practitioners who went before them keeping books of cures and spells. With the advent of sound science homoeopathy went away until recent years. Drug companies did use some of these books and investigated concoctions for active and useful ingredients. Once a substance was found to have value it was isolated and intensified. This process effectively removed harmful ingredients and most of all superstition.
In the 1400's the Catholic Inquisition was just getting started in identifying the enemies of the Holy Roman Empire. The Catholic Church had almost complete control over Europe and the lives of the people. 'In 1486 the "Malleus Maleficarum" or "The Witches Hammer" was published by two Dominican Friars, Heinrich Kramer and Jakob Sprenger. It was accompanied by Pope Innocent VIII's papal bull, which endowed the text with the highest Church authority. The "Malleus Maleficarum" was thereafter a law book for witch hunters for more than two centuries. In the "Malleus" there were three traditional crimes of witchcraft punishable by what the authors call the "extreme penalty"- burning at the stake. They are (1) using or advocating the use of contraception; (2) PERFORMING ABORTIONS, and (3) robbing a man of his virility.(Hitchock*) The use of herbs for contraception and abortion was declared, for a time what it is, witchcraft! Although the methods have been cleaned up and perfected by science they are still the same today in the form of the pill, Ru-486, and surgery.
The Hebrews were warned to follow God's laws when they entered into the promised land. if they did right by the Law they would be blessed, if they did wrong by the Law they would be cursed (Deut. Chapters 28 & 29). One of those curses was that their enemies would put their children to the sword. Today America's enemies are being allowed and even paid to put our children to the sword! Why do I call these people America's enemies? Because by the shedding of innocent blood they are condemning America to be destroyed. 1.5 million babies are being aborted each year in America. It is done in the name of sin. The reason are financial, refusal to be married or commit, to cover up sin before the result can be seen and cause shame, revenge against the father, and fear of health complications. It all adds up to selfishness, pride, and a lack of faith.
When a couple goes to or meets at a nightclub/party, has drinks and/or drugs, dances luedly to lued music and then leave to adulterous intercourse, they are performing the Pagan "Rites of Spring" ritual. Some of you might remember the May Day celebrations that accompany the rites of spring. The May Pole is a phallic symbol of the masculine half of the god/ goddess pair. A mound built of an artesian spring with a hedge built around it represent the rebirthing goddess. (thus the ledZepplin lyric 'if theres a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now, its just a spring clean from the May Queen' in "Stairway to heaven")The worship of this pagan pair involves sex and pregnancy to symbolize rebirth and reincarnation. In the fall at harvestime there is a sacrifice. Whether modern couples realize it or not they are performing pagan witchcraft with their irresponsible nightclub rituals. Prom night with its full moon themes, King and Queen, and almost ritual loss of virginity and sex, is another continuation of the pagan rites of spring theme. Spiritual adultery and Spiritual death become manifested into the natural realms as adultery and death!!

Blood Cries from the Ground

Satan's purpose in all of this is to bring the "sin of (America) to its fullness and cause God's hedge of protection to be removed from America. In typical war fashion Satan's little fighters are softening up the defenses so he can send in the bombers and lay waste to the place as he did to Job. (Job Chap 1&2)
When Cain slew his brother Able, God said to him, "What have you done? Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground that has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood (Genesis 4:10-11). We now have 47,000,000 million aborted children crying out from every corner of American soil. Surely God is slow to anger and still holds out loving arms, calling us to repentance, even as Satan is screaming something about removing that hedge of protection. I think Satan is about to have his way with his old enemy America, that has blocked his evil global plans so many times in the past. It seems to me that we have already reached that point in the "Deuteronomy curses" where "we push back our enemies on one front and they advance on seven"

The First Fruits

Adding to the shedding of innocent blood is the fact that so many of these children are first pregnancies, "first fruits" of the womb, which God says belong to him. The firstborn carry a special "birthright"blessing from the Lord. Satan wants these for himself. He wants to rob them from us if he can't have them he wants to destroy or enslave them. the Ottoman Turks built an empire on the first born males of faithless Christians, who were full of the fear of man rather than the fear of God. Those Christians traded their first fruits to the ottomans for peace and the right to practice Christianity. The Ottomans took those boys, raised them Islamic, taught them martial arts, and conquered the Middle East. They used the same blessed firstborn to oppress Christianity for 600 years. I wonder how many of today's sacrificed first fruits were meant to be the great preachers, teachers, researchers, political leaders, and military leaders that we seem to be suddenly missing in America today. Tomorrow we will be as morally, financially, and spiritually bankrupt as Turkish Armenia.

Idolatry

Keeping in mind that idols are anything that we put before the Lord our God, here are some more Scriptures: "you slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to idols. In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking in your own blood"(Ezekiel 16:21-22)...."You built a mound [a place of Goddess worship] for yourself and made a lofty shrine in every public square"(v 24)..."because you poured out your wealth and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because you gave them your children's blood"(v 36)... "I will punish you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and who shed blood; I will bring upon you the blood vengeance of my wrath and jealous anger"(v 38). Woe is America!

In the Beginning of America and the Right to Life

Do we remember the day of our youth, when America was naked kicking in its own blood trying to bring forth a new nation. Remember the reason Pilgrims and others came here in the first place. Remember God's protection and providence that became the celebration of thanksgiving? Thanksgiving to who? This nation was born out of FAITH. Our Declaration of Independence from England says, "all have been endowed by the creator certain inalienable rights...The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". It is possible to think that 11 years later, when they wrote the Constitution, they changed their mind. The Supreme Court on Roe v Wade was wrong to side with the rights of the irresponsible over the rights of the innocent and helpless LIFE in the womb. American was settled on the right to spiritual life, founded on the right to a free life, and built on the pursuit of happiness, all "endowed by the creator". Will it now be destroyed, sacrificed, aborted on the alter of adulterous idolatry and irresponsibility! Each and every American must decide that question. The next abortion may be the last by our choice or God's.

Today Feb. 4, 2009 I want to add that Abortion is closely linked to "right to die" and assisted suicide. Nancy Pelosi argued in a committee hearing the life begins, "when the child goes home from the hospital"!!! This is the beginning of the coming push for "post birth" abortions. An ethics professor at Princeton (Singer) has been teaching his students for many years now that life is not life until it starts forming attachments with others and thus becomes a useful part of society. The Argument used in reverse could be applied to seniors who have entered into a state of life where they are no longer productive and are a drain on society. This is very close to the Nazi ideal "life worthy of life". The right to die and the right to an abortion will very quickly become the responsibility to die and the responsibility to abort. It is only one law from there to forced abortion and euthanasia. It will certainly solve the looming Social Security crisis and other strained resources. I hear the "Sandman" coming, the light on my wrist is changing, flashing from yellow to red!

Another "Birth Pang"?

2009-01-21T03:35:00.000-08:00

It seem a though Earth is in the middle of another "birth pang" that should be recognized as an indication that we are near the end. Jesus said, " MT 24:4 Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, `I am the Christ, ' and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

He went on to add much more including verse 9 which says," Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

I felt that during the time of "The Tsunami" in the Indian Ocean, several earthquakes and other natural disasters that stuck in a short time period, we were witnessing a "birth pang". Another seems to have come about the time the stock market began its recent crash.

July 1, 2008 I published, "What in the World is Going on" it included the following paragraph:
In the last 45 days we have had leading the news stories of rice shortage, a devastating storm in Myanmar, earthquakes in (China, Reno Nv., Japan, Greece) a volcano in Chile, A years worth of acreage burned up in the U.S. before summer, Oil and Gas out of control, a pitiful primary election, the U.S. economy going south fast, and the islamofascists rattling constantly. If this is not a "birth pang" (Matt 24:4-8) then I don't know what is. People in general are full of tension, they can feel it. Everywhere everything is about to explode

On Oct 10, 2008 I published "WOW, is a Famine Next?", it was in relation to the banking/mortgage/global economic crises.

Now we seem to be in another "Birth Pang". It began with Hamas taunting Israel, with rocket fire, from the Gaza Stripe, and Israel retaliating. There were also a few large Earthquakes, including the one near Japan and Russia, floods in the western U.S. and a cold snap. Then George Bush made a comment about separate sovereign states for Israel and the Palestinians. The result was a reversal of the January rise in the stock market to a 5.5% loss. It is too early to tell if the Inauguration of Barak Obama is part of the "Birth pang' of judgement.
"Birth Pangs" of judgement are directly related to support, or lack of, for Israel. There is an excellent book on this subject detailing judgements on America for not supporting Israel by Bill Koenig. his website is Http://www.watch.org/index.html?mcat=1
One thing for certain, the "birth pangs" are getting closer together!

Since I posted this we can add: 1 Kentucky ice storm, a super cold January, 3 volcanoes (Hawaii, Japan, Alaska), a deeping faster falling Global ecomony (so says Prime Minister Brown and President Obama) and a double wammy snowstorm in southern England, where the people don't own snowshovels or plows. Even the Tube can't run. They are crippled there!

Heart

2009-01-07T03:26:00.000-08:00

This is going to be a little different post for me because it is going to be a little personal. We give away a little of ourselves in everything we do, right, and say, but this is straight out. maybe someone else is in the same place>
About the beginning of December. I began to sense the Lord saying, "press in". Each time I did there was an immediate response - very unusual! Then it seemed for the next two weeks that he wasn't there at all. It was like living the passage in Song of Solomon where she is standing on the wall looking, but not seeing her beloved.
SS 5:6 I opened for my lover,
but my lover had left; he was gone.
My heart sank at his departure.
I looked for him but did not find him.
I called him but he did not answer.

SS 5:7 The watchmen found me
as they made their rounds in the city.
They beat me, they bruised me;
they took away my cloak,
those watchmen of the walls!

And, yes, during that time I seemed to be hypersensitive to the attacks of the World and enemies of Christ around me. The experience brought up anger in me that I thought was long gone. Call it dross driven to the surface by the refiners fire so that it can be removed. When it was flicked away I saw a heart revealed in the surface of the shiny new gold.
My walk had become too heady of late. I had a 12 inch problem I needed to get God out of my head and back into my heart where he belonged. Suddenly I began to notice heart and love in every word, sermon, and song.

SS 8:6 Place me like a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
its jealousy unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
like a mighty flame.

SS 8:7 Many waters cannot quench love;
rivers cannot wash it away.
If one were to give
all the wealth of his house for love,
it would be utterly scorned.

I have never been a student of Psalms, but now is apparently the time. If David had a "heart after God's own heart" then there must be some nuggets waiting there for me. New testament reading will be John and John's Epistles.
I finish with the lyrics of a Bryan Duncan song:

A Heart Like Mine

Of all the hearts in the world
I've only one to give
So insecure, a desperate pulse
Racing to Your embrace
That You could want me and seek me
Is more than words could ever say
That You would love me and see in me
A pearl of price, thrown away

Chorus
A heart like mine
How could it be worthy that You'd find
A way to redeem this hardened clay
Twisted and broken
Oh Father God above
The wonder that You'd love a heart like mine

Your holy hands hold me still
Shaping my heart anew
Once vacant shell now reclaimed
Offers its praise to You
The one who searched till You found me
A wounded lamb whose gone astray
You stopped the world to recover me
Oh Lamb of God, the price You've paid

Repeat Chorus

I make my promise to
Do the one thing I can do with abandon
I can give every heartbeat to You

Genexit

2008-12-31T03:40:00.000-08:00

Lately our local newspaper, which is a puppet of the New York Times, has been running articles on the aging of the Baby Boomer generation. They have been calling the series "Genexit". I can't help but see prophetic truth in it. Given the present world status laid against God's timeline, it would be perfect to lump Boomers, Gen-X, Y, and Z into one new category. Since they'll all be leaving at the same time, Genexit is the perfect name.
Scene for the Final Act
Aria plays loudly. Humanity moves stage left, some looking dumbfounded, some terrified as the curtain begins to close, others fight the curtain. Martyrs stand in front of the curtain with joyous smiles, bright bright lights come up! Music changes to trumpets flourish

Quote of note from Nov.2008

2008-12-17T04:04:00.001-08:00

"When confronted by the stories of those who live their faith among people who hate them for it, I am inspired, saddened, thankful, and convicted all at once. The death and murder of Gayle Williams startles those at ease to reflection. The pervasive opposition in the lives of believing university students awakens even seasoned believers to their own apathy. How courageous is the believer who follows Christ among those who hurl insults and hostility? How treasured is the Bible that must be buried in the backyard for protection? How sacred is the faith of one who is willing to die for it?"
Jill Carattini
from the RZIM emails 'A Slice of Infinity' 10/22/08 titled "Surprised by Suffering"

Put the Christ back in CHRISTmas

2008-12-10T02:58:00.001-08:00

republished from Dec 2005:

Put CHRIST back in CHRISTmas

Santa lives at the North Pole ...JESUS is everywhere.
Santa rides in a sleigh ...JESUS rides on the wind and walks on the water.
Santa comes but once a year...JESUS is an ever present help.
Santa fills your stockings with goodies...JESUS supplies all your needs.
Santa comes down your chimney uninvited...JESUS stands at your door and knocks, and then enters your heart when invited.
You have to wait in line to see Santa...JESUS is as close as the mention of His name.
Santa lets you sit on his lap...JESUS lets you rest in His arms.
Santa doesn’t know your name, all he can say is “Hi little boy or girl, what’s your name?”...JESUS knew our name before we did.Not only does He know our name,He knows our address too.He knows our history and future andHe even knows how many hairs are on our heads.
Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly...JESUS has a heart full of love.
All Santa can offer is HO HO HO...JESUS offers health, help and hope.
Santa says “You better not cry”...JESUS says “Cast all your cares on me for I care for you.”
Santa’s little helpers make toys...JESUS makes! new life, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken homes and builds mansions.
Santa may make you chuckle but...JESUS gives you joy that is your strength.
While Santa puts gifts under your tree...JESUS became our gift and died on a tree.
Yes, Jesus is better, he is even better than Santa Claus.
It’s obvious there is really no comparison. We need to remember WHO Christmas is all about. We need to put Christ back in CHRISTmas, Jesus is still the reason for the season.!!!!

Billy Graham's Prayer For Our Nation

2008-12-10T02:42:00.000-08:00

I received this in a Email, and thought it was worth sharing.

Billy Graham's Prayer For Our Nation
:
:
:
: THIS GUY SURE HAS A GOOD VIEW OF WHAT'S HAPPENING TO THIS COUNTRY!
:
:
:
: 'Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to
:
: seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who
:
: call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our
:
: spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and
:
: called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We
:
: have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and
:
: called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called
:
: it building self esteem. We have abused power and called it p olitics.
: We have coveted our neighbor's possessions
:
: and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and
:
: pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the
:
: time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us,
:
: Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and Set us free.
:
: Amen!'
:
:
:
: Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program, 'The Rest of
: the Story,' and received a larger response to this program than any other he
: has ever aired.

A Days Wages for a Loaf of Bread

2008-12-03T02:59:00.000-08:00

I've worked in a grocery store for, going on, 18 years now. Since 1996-97 I have noticed that price increases have been running about 25% a year. This year however, has been 35%-50%, depending on the primary ingredients (wheat, tomato, and dairy are among the highest).
It is true that the profit margins for grocery companies were very low in the 1990's most were between .5% and 1.5%. It was a dangerous time for the industry. Any negative impact that came their way put them in the red. Times have changed the industry average is more like 3%-6% now. Its a fairly recession proof industry. People have to eat! That means that in the present economic downturn the grocery companies are among the healthiest.
This years' price increases began with the usual January increases. Very shortly we added the specter of rice shortages and shortages/famines in India, Africa, and many third world countries. India took the step of banning exports of rice. The next step was the rise in fuel/transportation costs. By summer we had already hit our yearly 25% increase and were headed for more. The next step in the price increase pressure was the fall of the dollar and the demand from the United Nations for our food surplus.
Surpluses are an interesting price factor. Some of you may remember in the summer of 2007, the Bush administration talked the Saudis into increasing production of oil to relieve some of oil's price pressure. Almost instantly oil prices shot up and remained high for most of the 2007 summer. The reason was that with the Saudis pumping at capacity there was no more surplus to counter act any potential geopolitical upheaval. When the reduced production at the end of summer prices for oil actually fell. Its all a fear factor.
During the same time period, of 1996 to present, personal wages have risen an average of 1.5% - 3%! This means that a larger and larger portion of your personal budget is going to feed your family.
Here is my point in all of this: at the current rate of increase, with no MAJOR famine, the prophecy of Revelation 6:6 will be fulfilled in 4 years time!!!!

REV 6:5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"

This passage is often quoted as "a days wages for a loaf of bread", because it takes about a quart of barley to make a loaf of bread. Most of the end times writers, that I have read, interpret this to mean that all of your take home pay will be used just to feed your family. If, the average family of 4 spends $250 per week on all food (groceries, take out pizza, and restaurants) then, in four years it will be $610.35!!!! If that family now makes $50,000 a year in four years it will make about $53,068 four years from now. Take home pay should be about $622.52, if the tax rate remains at 39% for all governments, and no increase in health deductions!!

Pieces of the Puzzle

2008-11-19T02:33:00.001-08:00

These are some exciting times we live in! Have you ever thought about having been born in a different time? Do you ever wonder what your life would have been like, or what your faith would have been like? As news events were broadcast, this week, I couldn't help but think of Paul Simon's song, "your were born at the right time".
In the past two weeks we have seen an election in America that ushers in a government that is in line with the majority of the left leaning socialist governments of the world. The World's bankers came together to try to solves a global economic crisis of their own making! leaders everywhere are saying things like, "no country is an island, we are all interdependent, we must work together globally to solve the problems that confront us". (This is not a real quote, but it sounds like everything we've been hearing, doesn't it? The difference from the past is that they are actually doing it!)
At the beginning of summer I received a link in an email to a man named Lindsey Williams. Clicking on the link gives you the option of watching several different lengths YouTube videos of Lindsey's pitch. Lindsey is a missionary with the Baptist Missionary Board. He went to Alaska during the building of the Alaskan Pipeline and the Prudhoe Bay Oil Fields. There he served the spiritual needs of the workmen and also oil executives. When first watching the video you are wondering, "if this stuff is true"? It is difficult not to trust one of our own! The information is also upheld by recent world events. He makes the statement over a year ago that, "it was decided, that we would be paying +$100 a barrel for Oil, and +$4.00 a gal. for gas this past summer! "it was decided" is a key phrase here.
Is there anything that so derailed the fragile U.S. economy, and the rest of the world with it, as $4.00 gas this past spring and summer. People gave up trying to keep up with mortgage payments, and all "discretionary" pocket money went into the gas tank. Food producers and grocery stores were more than happy to tack on and extra 25-30% to their prices, as margins could be easily expanded by a couple of percent.
You can watch for yourself but here are Lindsey's primary assertions. He claims to have gotten the information from oil executives, one of which was fired, wrote the forward to Lindsey's book, and then was rehired. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3340274697167011147
1)In the 1970's, when Henry Kissinger was working on a Middle East peace deal, "it was decided" that oil would be the means of controlling the World. Kissinger promised the Arabs that we would give them more for their oil that they had ever imagined, but they had to buy our Bonds. Therefore the price of oil becomes a hidden tax when we overspend. Our increased budget deficit is bought up by the Arabs oil $$, keeping interest rates low. (The deficits of the last 5-8 years should have sent interest rates soaring and the dollar plummeting. behind the Chinese, which also opened up during the Kissinger years, the Arabs bought most of our bonds!)
2) The World Bank controls the price of Oil! I remember the talking heads on CNBC this past summer asking the question, "who was buying up the oil futures contracts, that set the price of oil?" Amazingly as a global financial crises took hold the price of oil futures began to plummet! (Some of you might have noticed, about two weeks ago, Prime Minister Brown, of England, told the Arabs, "they needed to contibute some of their newly gotten oil $$ to the World Bank, for lending to troubled countries, such as Iceland.")
3) There were oil strikes, huge finds, in Alaska, Russia, South China Sea, and Brazil.(the Brazilian oil strike is still hush hush. I learned of it from a Brazilian co-worker whose brother is drilling along the Amazon. they announced finding oil off the coast of Rio, but keep quite about the Amazon.) These oil finds are very large, as large as the Saudis, but are kept off the market.

Basically it all looks like this Global economic downturn was "created" by the World Bank. The purpose: create global cooperation and move us closer to a global government!

We can wax nostalgic for a "simpler time" while looking at a Thomas Kinkade, Norman Rockwell, or historical movie. Would our lives or faith really have been better in those times? Isn't that what we are really considering during moments of nostalgic meditation? Now here we are having been given birth in a time such as this where the unfulfilled prophecies of time are all coming together. It is a time not unlike the time of Jesus birth, death, and Resurrection, when all of the prophecies of the promised Messiah were being revealed and falling into place. These are exciting times.
1PE 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

1PE 1:10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

1PE 1:13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

As the pieces of the puzzle of God's plan are fit into place, and the World of Revelation, becomes visible, I can't help but feel, "I was born at the right time"!

"One Nation Under God..."

2008-11-08T05:11:00.000-08:00

The image is from http://pledge-of-allegiance.blogspot.com

I received the following email back on Sept. 28th. It is a testament to how far we have fallen as a nation. I have made the statement in the past that we, as a nation, have disagreed politically in the past, but were unified by our Christianity. "One nation under God, indivisible" and "all men are granted inalienable rights, bestowed upon men, by the creator" has been the glue and purpose of this nation. We have walked away from God and are now a house divided. Our political divisions, are now, a direct result of our spiritual condition! As in my last pictorial post, of the candidates signs on the front lawn, "a house divided against itself cannot stand". Our only hope is a sweeping spiritual "great awakening"
We now have a President that is in favor of Global socialism, and a world eager to gorge themselves on our God given blessings of plenty. As a nation fallen we can no longer lead the rest of the world in obtaining their own god given blessing. We will no longer be lifting others up to our level. We will be descending to theirs, so that all can be equal. If there is a global average wage, and a global average energy consumption, and a global average G.D.P., and a global average food consumption, it will not be where we are now. Get ready to find out that Jesus is all we ever needed, because, soon, he will be all we've got!

This article came from a gentleman in his 80's (and a DEMOCRAT!) who actually lived thru those (and these) times. Whether you agree or disagree, this is a powerful statement!!!
: Everyone has a different opinion on the war, and our current President. But this article probably makes sense to those who remember. Read it and give it some thought. What a
: difference 60 years makes!!!
:
:
:
: President Bush did make a bad mistake in the war on terrorism. But the mistake was not his decision to go to war in Iraq . Bush's mistake came in his belief that this country is the same one his father fought for in WWII. It is not!!!
:
: Back then they had just come out of a vicious depression. The country was steeled by the hardship of that depression, but they still believed fervently in this country. They knew that the people had elected their leaders, so it was the people's duty to back those leaders. Therefore, when the war broke out the people came together, rallied behind, and stuck with their leaders, whether they had voted for them or not or whether the war was going badly or not. And war was just as distasteful..... and the anguish just as great then as it is today. Often there were more casualties in one day in WWII than we have had in the entire Iraq war. But that did not matter. The people stuck with the President because it was their patriotic duty. Americans put aside their differences in WWII and worked together to win that war.
:
: Everyone from every strata of society, from young to old pitched in. Small children pulled little wagons around to gather scrap metal for the war effort. Grade school students saved their pennies to buy stamps for war bonds to help the effort. Men who were too old or medically 4F lied about their age or condition trying their best to join the military. Women doubled their work to keep things going at home. Harsh rationing of everything from gasoline, to soap, to butter, was imposed, yet there was very little complaining.
:
: You never heard prominent people on the radio belittling the President. Interestingly enough in those days there were no fat cat actors and entertainers who ran off to visit and fawn over dictators of hostile countries and complain to them about our President. Instead, they made upbeat films and entertained our troops to help the troops' morale. And a bunch even enlisted.
:
: And imagine this: Teachers in schools actually started the day off with a Pledge of Allegiance, and with prayers for our country and our troops!!!
:
: Back then, no newspaper would have dared to point out certain weak spots in our cities where bombs could be set off to cause the maximum damage. No newspaper would have dared complain about what we were doing to catch spies. A newspaper would have been laughed out of existence if it had complained that German or Japanese soldiers were being 'tortured' by being forced to wear women's underwear, or subjected to interrogation by a woman, or being scared by a dog.
:
: There were a lot of things different back then. We were not subjected to a constant bombardment of pornography, perversion and promiscuity in movies or on radio. We did not have legions of crack heads, dope pushers and armed gangs roaming our streets.
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: No, President Bush did not make a mistake in his handling of terrorism. He made the mistake of believing that we still had the courage and fortitude of our fathers. He believed that this was still the country that our fathers fought so dearly to preserve!!
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: It is not the same country. It is now a cross between Sodom and Gomorrah and the land of Oz. We did unite for a short while after 9/11, but our attitude changed when we found out that defending our country would require some sacrifices.
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: We are in great danger!! The terrorists are fanatic Muslims. They believe that it is okay, even their duty, to kill anyone who will not convert to Islam. It has been estimated that about one third, or over three hundred million Muslims, are sympathetic to the terrorists cause ... Hitler and Tojo combined did not have nearly that many potential recruits.
:
: So...we either win it - or lose it - and you ain't gonna like losing!!!
:
:
: Today, for many folks, America is not at war...the military is at war...................... America is at the mall!!!!!!!!!
:
: NO LONGER A CHRISTIAN NATION
: ~ Author Unknown ~
:
: As I was listening to a news program last night, I watched in horror as Barack Obama made the statement with pride. . 'We are no longer a Christian nation; we are now a nation of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists '. . . As with so many other statements I've heard him (and his wife) make, I never thought I'd see the day that I'd hear something like that from a presidential candidate in this nation!!!
:
: To think that our forefathers fought and died for the right for our nation to be a Christian nation - and to have this man say with pride that we are no longer that. How far this nation has come from what our founding fathers intended it to be!
:
: I hope that each of you will do what I'm doing now - send your concerns, written simply and sincerely, to the Christians on your email list. With God's help ...and He is still in control of this nation and all else, we can show this man and the world in November that we are, indeed, still a Christian nation!
:
: Please pray for our nation!

Qoute from Oct.2008

2008-11-07T02:47:00.000-08:00

“I believe an unprecedented economic collapse is highly likely because money is the real god of America, and the true God of this universe is a jealous One who does not tolerate idolatry. God, by His very nature, is going to be compelled to destroy our false god.”
Dr. David Reagan
from the book: "America the Beautiful? The United States in Bible Prophecy" published in 2003

A House Divided

2008-10-28T15:06:00.000-07:00

I think this speaks for itself!!

WOW is a Famine next?

2008-10-10T13:17:00.000-07:00

WOW, can you believe these two weeks?
Governments all over the world are taking possession or control over their banks! The London newspapers headlines "We're all socialists now"! Berliscone says, " we need a global agreement changing to rules on who banks do business with each other". Bernaki, Bush, and Paulson, say "their needs to be a Global solution, cooperation to deal with the banking problem. 4 Major central banks lower their key interest rate with-in a few hours of each other. The Stock market loses 40-50%.
Now I gotta tell you I see Biblical end times written all over this!
It seems that some years ago, maybe going back to the late 1970's, somewhere, by some group it was decided that the eventual global government would be socialist (hang with me here for a moment). Since the Reagan years we have seen Russia and China pull back, almost miraculously, from strict communism to allowing pseudo freedom. Their people can now choose to leave the farms for the city jobs, own businesses and homes, hold shares of stock. But at the same time we have seen "free" democratic nations such as France, Finland, Sweden, Canada, and Venezuela move into socialism. With a single vote in 3 weeks America could join them.
With the governments owning/backing the banking system, a banking/monetary collapse would mean a global collapse of government and a global collaborative government could rise overnight in its place.

Remember when Joseph became prime minister of Egypt.
GE 41:41 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt." 42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. 43 He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, "Make way!" Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.

Remember how with each crisis the all of the people cried out to Joseph to give them, "a little food for them and their little ones". Each time they did this they traded some part of their freedom away into the control of Pharaoh.
GE 47:13 There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine. 14 Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying, and he brought it to Pharaoh's palace. 15 When the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all Egypt came to Joseph and said, "Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? Our money is used up."

GE 47:16 "Then bring your livestock," said Joseph. "I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone." 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys. And he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock.

GE 47:18 When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, "We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. 19 Why should we perish before your eyes--we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate."

GE 47:20 So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh's, 21 and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

GE 47:23 Joseph said to the people, "Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant the ground. 24 But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children."

GE 47:25 "You have saved our lives," they said. "May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh."

GE 47:26 So Joseph established it as a law concerning land in Egypt--still in force today--that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become Pharaoh's.

GE 47:27 Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.

This psychotic America and World will sell themselves into slavery just as fast as the Egyptians did. Once that is in place we can begin the Egyptian/Moses like plagues of Revelation to bring all creation back into the promised land with Christ as their Judge/government. First Pharaoh/AntiChrist must rise so that the "horse and rider [can be ] thrown into the sea"

The Smear Campaign Against Christians and Jews

2008-10-05T03:56:00.000-07:00

For years must of us have understood that the driving force behind the Globalization movement has been the fear of nuclear war. Of course we recognize that Satan is the provider of that fear. Those on Earth who do not know God's "perfect love, which casts out all fear", are completely controlled by that fear.
I want to present some evidence here that the above paragraph is in fact true. As I was surfing, researching an upcoming post, I came across a string of United Nations and Emergent Church dialog. Their goal is to unify all faiths through compromise, in a word: ecumenicalism
As part of that string was this lecture announcement from a group called World Future Society http://www.wfs.org/faq.htm :

The Threat of Nuclear Terrorism and the Abrahamic Religions

The gravest challenge confronting humanity’s future is the threat of nuclear terrorism. The Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam will determine whether this nightmare scenario becomes a future reality. Through 450 years of global conquest, colonialism enabled Christianity to surpass Islam as the world’s largest religion. In 1948 the United Nations created the state of Israel in the Palestinian homeland. At the start of the 21st century, continuing world expansion by Christians, ongoing struggle by Jews to preserve the state of Israel, and Muslim efforts to regain lost ground have combined to confront the global village with a potentially worse-case scenario. While the future remains developmentally open, three trends have begun to steer humanity away from the nuclear nightmare: 1) the world has gone on the offensive against terrorism; 2) contrary to some popular belief, religion is building bridges of cooperation; and 3) humanity is learning to live together peacefully amidst the pluralism of the modern world.

Who should attend: Religious persons who want to explore the relationship between religion and terrorism, as well as anyone interested in avoiding the nuclear terrorism scenario.
What you’ll learn: Attendees will learn how the Abrahamic religions have together placed the global village in its current perilous condition and how religions might contribute to a positive future filled with peace and justice rather than one of hatred and hostility.
How this knowledge can be applied: This knowledge can help participants become proactive in shaping the future in a positive way.

Thomas R. McFaul, professor of ethics and religious studies emeritus, North Central College; author, The Future of Peace and Justice in the Global Village: The Role of the World Religions in the 21st Century, Naperville, Illinois

Now I've studied some history And I'd like to argue that it has been quite some time since that last war that was started by Judeo/Christian followers. We have certainly defended our right to a free society and with it freedom to worship the God of the Bible, but what war since The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) has been started over our God? The answer is none!
Lets look at them Russia/Georgia: nope
Iraq 1&2: no that was about Saddam
Viet Nam: no that was cold war spread communism threat
Korea: no stop Communism again
WWII: no, stop world domination by Hitler
WWI: European internal political struggle
......Really!
Until you get to the attempt of world domination of Catholicism and the ego of various Popes you can't find a war about religion started by Christians or Jews. You can find wars fought in DEFENSE of our right to exist in freedom. What bad bad people we must be to put the world on the brink by not rolling over and playing dead!!!

Quote of note from Sept. 08

2008-10-02T06:31:00.001-07:00

“Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”
George Orwell

Predestination and Truth: Seeing Jesus

2008-09-21T06:40:00.001-07:00

Jesus was always trying to get people to see that he God incarnate. In the Gospel of Mark we find:
MK 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?"
MK 10:18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone.
And in Matthew:

MT 16:13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
MT 16:14 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
MT 16:15 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
MT 16:16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." MT 16:17 Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.

Finally he stood before the Sanhedrin being charged with blasphemy.

LK 22:54 Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest.
LK 22:63 The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. 64 They blindfolded him and demanded, "Prophesy! Who hit you?" 65 And they said many other insulting things to him.
LK 22:66 At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them. 67 "If you are the Christ, " they said, "tell us."
Jesus answered, "If I tell you, you will not believe me, 68 and if I asked you, you would not answer. 69 But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God."
LK 22:70 They all asked, "Are you then the Son of God?"
He replied, "You are right in saying I am."
LK 22:71 Then they said, "Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips.

The Sanhedrin Did not recognize Jesus as their God and Messiah. Perhaps because they did not see him in his garment of glory. They were spiritually blind and could not see it..
Before the same Sanhedrin Paul, full of the Holy Spirit did not recognize the High Priest not wearing is robes. Paul having spiritual eyes saw only rags. I think it was a snub by God saying, "he no longer recognized the authority of the High priest to be the spiritual leader of the Jews. For Christ has been made our High Priest forever. What a turn of events, reversal of position:

AC 23:1 Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, "My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day." 2 At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!"
AC 23:4 Those who were standing near Paul said, "You dare to insult God's high priest?"
AC 23:5 Paul replied, "Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: `Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.' "

Here we have instances of people people being given revelation of Jesus as God, people being left blind to that same revelation, and finally a man being allowed to see another man the way God sees him.
I recently had an email conversation with a man about predestination. It seems that our destiny is predetermined by according to the disposition of your heart.
And the judging criteria is whether of not we are found to love truth!
Pilate did not believe in truth. He was an everything is relative kind of guy.

JN 18:37 "You are a king, then!" said Pilate.
Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the TRUTH. Everyone on the side of TRUTH listens to me."
JN 18:38 "What is truth?" Pilate asked. With this he went out

Then there are those who just don't want to know truth. These are the types that want to see themselves as a god, master of their own destiny. It is a sin as old as Eve and the Serpent.

RO 1:20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
RO 1:24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the TRUTH of God for a LIE, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.

RO 2:5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God "will give to each person according to what he has done." 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the TRUTH and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

Finally considering the day we find ourselves in, we know that the end is coming soon, and we struggle to get men to see Jesus. We wonder why some are so vehemently against all things God and true, while others seem to be open discussion. Those that are willing to listen and think, we have hope that they will see the light. To the others we sadly shake our heads and pray for them hardly believing that those prayers will be answered. I think it all comes down to whether or not we love TRUTH!

"The coming of the lawless one (the AntiChrist) will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the TRUTH and so be saved. For this reason GOD SENDS THEM A POWERFUL DELUSION so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.(2Thes 2:9-12)

Talking about the need for Jesus; re written

2008-09-06T08:44:00.000-07:00

I heard Ravi Zacharias say that there are 4 basic questions that everyone must answer for him/herself. It occurred to me that this is how we lead others to Jesus. It is always down one of those four thought paths.
It depends on who I'm talking to and what their present situation and education is. I always pray for opportunities and entry points. In this post I'm only going to deal with the "Why do I or should I need Jesus".
Consider that everyone of is made in the image and likeness of God. Like God has three parts (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) , so we have three parts also (body, soul, and spirit). The Spirit is constantly interjecting, speaking, into our soul, thoughts. It is our thoughts that control our bodies.
Each and everyone of us hears from our spirit on 4 topics and I am thinking of adding a 5th. We all need to settle in our soul (mind) questions of Origin, Purpose, Morality, and Destiny. (The 5Th that I am currently meditating on is Love.) I don't think that we get off this Earth without settling those four and maybe five questions. Some people fight death to the very end because they have not yet made their conclusions. All the busyness and noise we put into your lives, to our own peril, is hiding from God and refusing to deal with these subjects.
Consider Adam after partaking of the forbidden fruit. There he was knowing that God was his origin. Glorifying God by tending the Garden and having dominion over all living creatures (including Eve and the Serpent) was his purpose. Not eating of the fruit was his mandated morality. And eternal life was his destiny, unless he ate of the fruit; then destiny would become death. He allowed the serpent to question God's word placing deadly ego and doubt into Eve' s soul. He allows her to think it, reach out and take it and eat it, then he also eats of it.
Suddenly Adam is faced with conviction and a slightly different set of issues; Origin (God), Purpose(his diminutive responsibility), Morality (the one forbidden sin) and Destiny (his impending death).
As conviction gives way to guilt he hears the footsteps of God walking in the Garden. Instead of confronting his origin, admitting he failed in his purpose, asking for forgiveness for his lapse of morality, and trying to re-establish a destiny of life, he tries to cover his guilt with fig leaves and hides from God. He didn't want to deal with the issues. He ran and hid from the confrontation.
One cannot hide from judgement. No matter what you do to ignore it it will still come. God says, "Where are you" Adam says, "We were afraid and naked before you" And dishes the blame out on Eve. She in turn not wanting to own the guilt passes the buck to the serpent. Nobody wants to own guilt. We all point the finger which only proves our sin.
God shed the blood of an animal to make clothes: a COVERING for their sin. The cost of Sin is death and the animal represented a substitute. God promised to provide a sacrificial substitute which will REMOVE their sins and reestablish them in a destiny of life. That promised sacrifice, for removing sin, was God's Son Jesus.
Now when talking to someone about the need for Jesus, and his payment for our sin, each of the big four issues is an entry point. By talking to someone about these issues forces them to deal with them.
When you talk about Origin of mankind by ready to debunk or cast some doubt on evolution (read a book on it). The simplest way is to take it back to the big bang. "Where did the matter at the beginning of the big bang come from" The evolutionist can only go back to "in the beginning Dirt"! We go to Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the dirt"! Not one human on Earth has looked up at the stars and not wondered where we came from and how we got here. "Fearfully and wonderfully made in our mother's womb", "We were on his mind before Earth's frame was laid". "In the beginning was the word (Jesus) and the word was...and we have seen him...and known him and he is Jesus.
Purpose is general and specific to each of us. Our general purpose is to glorify our creator. Our specific purpose is the use of our special gifts and talents that bring glory to him. We need Jesus and his forgiveness to bring glory to God. And we need Jesus to begin a relationship with God that will eventually lead to learning our special purpose for which we were individually created and called into the body of Christ. It is in this relationship and obedience where happiness is and internal peace is found.
Morality is a special subject to attack. An argument that cannot be countered goes like this. Moral Absolutes exist, and God exists, or no moral absolutes exist, and God does not exist. A Moral Absolute is a truth placed in the conscience of all humans irregardless of upbringing or association that we all know to be true. It follows that if all humans have this inborn law then there must have been a law Giver: God
Example: Grotesque mutilation and murder of a newborn innocent child. What non-evil purpose can be attached to such and act. Can you cause the infant to give up secret information, submit to your authority, serve you, can its torture bring a positive advance to mankind? What good thing can come of it.
Every human being of every place and people on earth knows it is wrong to kill or torture an infant. Anyone who denies that that would be wrong is lying to themselves and you. We all know it because it has been placed in all of us by that unseen force known as "God of Love". We sense that which is detestable to him without ever being told. A child will often do something in secret, hiding some small sin, without ever having been told it was wrong. He knows it inherently
Now since God loves us he has given us his written word which reveals not only his commands but also his character which is the Christian's basis for morality. We must all decide what our basis for morality is and where it comes from. There is one big plus to Christian morality though and that is Jesus. Without Jesus it is impossible to be and live a moral life. We must have his forgiveness. Since "...all have sinned..." we all must deal with that guilt and impending destiny of death. We read into the word "guilt" the words "punishment is death" and the Spirit of the unsaved person testifies guilt and death to their soul. This is met with much uncontrolled emotional energy depression , anger, etc. and we don't want to hear it in our souls. The Spirit is heard the loudest when we are bored. Boredom is actually the edge of meditation. When we are bored our bodies and minds are not being externally stimulated. In this state our Spirit is able to get through. The Bible says, "Be still and know that I am God"! What the unrepentant do is jump up and go look for some excitement to drown out the voice of God. In other words they HIDE. Where do they find this excitement? In more Sin! Sin is exciting. The problem is that more sin leads to more guilt, which testifies death which clashes with their self image as immortal self proclaimed gods. They are forced and compelled to escalate their particular chosen drug/sin to sooth the pain of their conscience. Paul said, " all the members of my body are at war with that which I know I ought not to do" (paraphrased) and "Who will save me from this body of death. Thanks be to Jesus Christ our Lord" You see repentance and acceptance of Christ breaks the cycle of sin, guilt, pride ego (repeat).
Ever one argues that they have to give up this and that to be a Christian. They cannot see how or why they would want to do that. They don't understand that liberty is in Christ. They see it the other way around because they don't see or know how they are in fact the slaves; slaves to destructive sin. Show them their slavery and the way Christ liberates and lifts off the weight of guilt that no one wants to own.
The last issue is Destiny. Everybody wants to know what is on the other side of life. Jesus answered that when he rose from the dead. And offers it to us free of charge. The destiny of the Christian is to pass from life to Life. "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord". Most important only with Christianity is there an absolute promise of eternal life in paradise with him. Every religion in the world is based on earning (working) their way into heaven. With Christ it is a gift. Religion is man trying to make himself good enough for God. Christianity is God making Man good enough for himself. Everyone on Earth is counting on either themselves or Christ for their eternity. Make them see "All their righteousness is like filthy rags". And also Hebrew's says, "It is appointed unto man, Once to die and then the judgement"Once means no reincarnation, we get one chance.

I said above that I was thinking of adding a 5th big question and I did. I posted it September 20, 2007. I have included it here together with it's inspiration.

Love the Fifth Great Question
In my post "talking to others about Christ" I quoted Ravi Zacharias as listing four great questions of life. He says that, "each person must at some point in life answer for themselves these four great questions". The questions were; origin, morality, purpose, and destiny. I realized that since only the Bible satisfactorily answered each on of those question that each one of them was an entry point for talking to others about Christ. I also mentioned in that post that I was thinking of adding another question to that list of four biggies. My fifth great question is LOVE. What are you going to do with love?

Love in itself must relate to the other four questions and is answered most satisfactorily by the Bible. The Bible is called by Christian and non-Christian alike, "the Book of Love" Remember the song, "Who Wrote the Book of Love?" There you have the ORIGIN question. What passes as "love" or a "loving act" brings up the question of MORALITY. If The Theory Evolution is based on survival of the fittest, then what is the PURPOSE of a love that causes the strongest to sacrifice themselves to protect the weakest? It takes no love whatsoever to make offspring it does however take loving sacrifice to nurture them to adulthood. Finally there is always the question of DESTINY in love. The couple in a relationship ask. "where is this 'love' relationship going? Will it last? Is it real? What happens to this relationship after we die? All responses to the above questions are shaped by the respondent's view of God!

The Bible says, "...God is Love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God"(1John 4:16). If God is Love then it follows that love comes when God gives a part of himself to another as a gift. (If it is not a free gift then its not love.)
The one who receives God's gift of love must now decide what to do with it. Here are the options:
1) Seek it out, dwell in it, enjoy it, and give it back to God (love God). The result here is the love multiplied and sent back from God. Thus a relationship is established with God. There is then also and overflowing: to much love to contain. We must share it, there is no selfishness allowed in love. To succumb to love is to die to self and be made alive in Christ.

2) Give the love to another person. The result here is when the cup is poured out it is refilled by God with the same measure that it was given out in. The new receiver of the love must now also decided what to do with the love that was given to them, because, "Love continueth"(never fails, never stops 1 Corinthians 13.) They might return it to the giver and a relationship is established.

3) Taint the love with selfishness use it to enslave another for selfish purposes. This person perverts love, abuses it, and tries to keep it manageable. It is the same way they think of God. They what a humanized, manufactured, manageable God, one that can take down off the shelf and use when needed. In this case the love grows cold. "In the last days, do to increased wickedness, the love of many will grow cold.

4) Reject the love, deny its author, and call it a genetic weakness, a result of DNA. This person runs from love so as not to give up self on the throne of the heart. Sometimes this person rejects the love because of feelings of guilt and unworthiness The result is death of the spirit, leading to death of the wretched soul, and finally merciful death of the depleted body.

There may be some possibilities that I have not investigated but, in each case what a person does about Love is what they believe about God, and influences their answering of the other four big questions of life.

George Herbert understood that Love was a drawing card from God to pull humanity closer to himself when he wrote "Love bade me welcome"

Love Bade Me Welcome

Love bade me welcome, yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-ey'd Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lack'd anything.

"A guest," I answer'd, "worthy to be here";
Love said, "You shall be he."
"I, the unkind, the ungrateful? ah my dear,
I cannot look on thee."
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
"Who made the eyes but I?"

"Truth, Lord, but I have marr'd them; let my shame
Go where it doth deserve."
"And know you not," says Love, "who bore the blame?"
"My dear, then I will serve."
"You must sit down," says Love, "and taste my meat."
So I did sit and eat.

-- George Herbert
Mark

Quote of Note from August

2008-08-21T05:45:00.001-07:00

“You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England. I did not then see what is now the most shining and obvious thing; the Divine humility which will accept a convert even on such terms. The Prodigal Son at least walked home on his own feet. But who can duly adore that Love which will open the high gates to a prodigal who is brought in kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance of escape?”
C.S.Lewis

Quote of Note from July

2008-08-21T05:45:00.000-07:00

John's Note on the Trinity

2008-08-07T04:12:00.000-07:00

There is much richness in the original Hebrew and Greek languages of the Bible. Just as important as the words is the grammar. The following paragraph on the Second person of the trinity is from L.T. Jeyachandran. It was sent out from RZIM in a "Slice of Infinity (slice@sliceofinfinity.org) Thu 8/07/08

"Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father" (John14:8-9). This astounding claim should alert us to several factors of which we are often not quite aware. In John's Gospel, we consistently see the unfolding of the mystery of Incarnation. There is a unity between the Father and the Son that we cannot ignore. In chapter 10, John records Jesus proclaiming his oneness with the Father. He uses the neuter gender in the Greek language, implying oneness of substance or essence, and emphatically not oneness of Person. (If he had wanted to mean oneness of Person, he would have used the masculine gender.) This is fundamentally important but is not often heard. Simply put, Jesus says that he is of one essence with the Father, but is not the same Person. As a result, we see a continuing invitation from Jesus to "come and see" his actual humanity, the uniqueness of Christ, the person of God incarnate.

Quote of Note from June 08

2008-07-10T02:28:00.000-07:00

" In essentials unity, in nonessentials liberty and in all things charity."
Rupert Muldinious

What in the World is Going On?

2008-07-01T03:12:00.000-07:00

Since I launched You've Been Left Behind http://www.youvebeenleftbehind.com/ the secular media attention has been insane. Over 125,000 unique visitors from 160 countries have hit the site, searched a half a million pages, and spent about 4 minutes per visit.
I feel like Elijah in 1 Kings 19:11-12. This site has had the storm, and the Earthquake, I'm waiting for the gentle breeze and the word of the Lord. You've Been Left Behind has been on every Internet site, blog, and newspage. Its been on National public radio (NPR), ABC News, Fox News, hundreds of news.coms, The London Times, The London U.K.Gardian, The front page of the Irish national newspaper, Three Irish rush hour radio stations, but only one Christian Radio Program (1150 am Pittsburgh).
I must say that God has used this site to get up in peoples face again. I've thought much about why all of the secular attention and this is what I've written to my team:
It has been interesting just how much this thing has turned into a ministry. I'm getting emails from all kinds of people. Some with questions (seekers) some just rant and spew, (skeptics) and some Christians. I answer everyone. I try to dialog with them all. Some have genuinely been made to think. One man in London got out his bible for the first time in years. etc, etc.
I've been thinking about what has really been going on here. The way this site has hit the secular media and played out all the way to national T.V. and several publications...
In the last 45 days we have had leading the news stories of rice shortage, a devastating storm in Myanmar, earthquakes in (China, Reno Nv., Japan, Greece) a volcano in Chile, A years worth of acreage burned up in the U.S. before summer, Oil and Gas out of control, a pitiful primary election, the U.S. economy going south fast, and the islamofascists rattling constantly. If this is not a "birth pang" (Matt 24:4-8) then I don't know what is. People in general are full of tension, they can feel it. Everywhere everything is about to explode. YBLB came along and remind them that this is what Jesus said in Matthew chap 24, just when they thought that they had gotten him out of their life. YBLB has reminded them that God is still on the throne. He asked them a question and they didn't respond. Now God is up in their face, with Alec Trabec playing "I'm a little tea pot". He's saying, "time is up, what are you going to do about me"? "Choose you this day whom you will serve"!'
Its time for the "latter rain" revival/awakening!!

Joel 2:22...The trees are bearing their fruit;
the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.

JOEL 2:23 Be glad, O people of Zion,
rejoice in the LORD your God,
for he has given you
the autumn rains in righteousness.
He sends you abundant showers,
both autumn and spring rains, as before.

JOEL 2:24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain;
the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

ISA 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is no other;
apart from me there is no God.
I will strengthen you,
though you have not acknowledged me,

ISA 45:6 so that from the rising of the sun
to the place of its setting
men may know there is none besides me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other.

ISA 45:9 "Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker,
to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the potter,
`What are you making?'
Does your work say,
`He has no hands'?
ISA 45:7 I form the light and create darkness,
I bring prosperity and create disaster;
I, the LORD, do all these things.

ISA 45:8 "You heavens above, rain down righteousness;
let the clouds shower it down.
Let the earth open wide,
let salvation spring up,
let righteousness grow with it;
I, the LORD, have created it.
ISA 45:10 Woe to him who says to his father,
`What have you begotten?'
or to his mother,
`What have you brought to birth?
ISA 45:11 "This is what the LORD says--
the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker:
Concerning things to come,
do you question me about my children,
or give me orders about the work of my hands?

ISA 45:12 It is I who made the earth
and created mankind upon it.
My own hands stretched out the heavens;

ISA 55:10 As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

ISA 55:11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
ISA 55:12 You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.

ISA 55:13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD's renown,
for an everlasting sign,
which will not be destroyed."
ISA 56:1 This is what the LORD says:
"Maintain justice
and do what is right,
for my salvation is close at hand
and my righteousness will soon be revealed.

ISA 56:2 Blessed is the man who does this,
the man who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,
and keeps his hand from doing any evil."

Mark

The Coming Great Delusion: My Guess U.F.O's

2008-06-01T23:12:00.000-07:00

Ever since Chariots of the Gods was written the Cult of the U.F.O. has been growing steadily. Supposed U.F.O. sitings have increased proportionally. Ironically the technology and the origin of such extraterrestrials have risen equally with our own understanding of technology and the universe. A sure indication that the whole thing is made up in the minds of the bored. Now if Satan is behind this U.F.O. Lie, because "he is the father of lies" then my mind has to say Why? Several answers come pretty easy.
Wikipedia says, "Chariots of the Gods?: Unsolved Mysteries of the Past is a book written in 1968 by Erich von Däniken. It is centered on the hypothesis that many ancient civilizations' technologies and religion were given to them by space travelers who were welcomed as gods....The book was adapted for TV as In Search of Ancient Astronauts. It also served as inspiration for the original TV series Battlestar Galactica, the feature film Stargate, its spinoff TV series, the Halo games, in the Alien vs. Predator film, where Predators came to Earth and "taught humans how to build". The Ultimate Edition DVD of Stargate contains an interview with Erich von Däniken entitled, "Is There a Stargate?". The feature film "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" also uses the theme of ancient astronauts who landed in South America and interacted with early humans and mentions the Nazca Lines of Peru"
Before Chariots of the Gods there was an esoteric movement known as Ariosophy. I first came across this while studying The religion of William Butler Yeats to get a clue as to what his "gyre" symbol in the poem, "The Second Coming" meant. (for the record, Yeats sees the future AntiChrist as a reincarnation of Jesus Christ and thus, a second coming. His cult group is the origin of the New Age movement.) In the study of Yeats I found a 1940's reference that Hitler had belonged to a similar cult in Germany. It turned out to be Ariosophy.

The Occult Roots of Nazism, By Goodrick-Clark...focuses, as the title indicates, on its [Nazism's] possible occult roots, an esoteric movement of the 1900s to 1930s in Germany and Austria that is generically referred to as Ariosophy.

According to Goodrick-Clarke, the Ariosophists wove occult ideas into the völkisch ideology that existed in Germany and Austria during that time.[4] Ariosophy shared the racial awareness which was already current within völkisch ideology,[5] but in addition to this the Ariosophists drew upon the notion of root races from Theosophy, thus postulating locations such as Atlantis, Thule and Hyperborea as the original homeland of the Aryan race (and its alleged purest branch, the Teutons or Germanic peoples). The ariosophic writings described a time of a glorious ancient Germanic past, in which an elitist priesthood had "expounded occult-racist doctrines and ruled over a superior and racially pure society."[6] The downfall of this imaginary golden age was explained as the result of the interbreeding between the master race and those considered untermenschen (lesser races). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_occultism

These two ideas are easily linked together by a belief in extraterrestials. The Biblically trained mind would realize that Ariosophists were idealizing the Nephilim destroyed in the Genesis chapter 6-8 flood. Thus, the under water city of Atlantis. The modern God rejecting mind would see it all as evidence of life and evolution aided by aliens.

So Satan could easily use these two ideas to explain the dissapearance of millions of Christians at The Rapture (we had to get rid of those non-conforming Christians) and institute his AntiChrist counterfiet as returning to save mankind from itself (we got your message in a radio bottle for help, we're back!).

I remember reading Bob Larson's First Book of Cults. Three things stuck out in all of the cults. The first was that Jesus was not the Son of God Messiah, maybe a prophet but not God. The second was all cults depended on good works for a good after life of some kind. Third was that they all had what I call, 'preparation for the AntiChrist'. They all had some future coming leader who would be the savior of mankind. Christianity says, Jesus is the Son of God Messiah, second person of the Trinity, God! Christianity says, "you can't do any good works that will result in salvation. Jesus did the work, believe in him and be saved" Christianity says, "This SAME Jesus [not another one] will return as you have seen him go".

Now, "The coming of the lawless one (the AntiChrist) will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason GOD SENDS THEM A POWERFUL DELUSION so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.(2Thes 2:9-12) and in the book of Acts he says,"
2:17 " `In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.

AC 2:18 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.

AC 2:19 I WILL SHOW WONDERS IN THE HEAVENS ABOVE
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.

AC 2:20 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

AC 2:21 And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.'

I kinda think that God is going to play along with this whole set up and let them have the desires of their heart, an extraterrestial display, to set the hook, line and sinker deep in their Godless hungry throats.
Finally Satan can use the same delusion to gather them together for the Battle of Armmegeddon. This thought first occured to me watching the movie Independence Day with Will Smith. Earth fights the extaterrestials (God's armies) for final independence and freedom to do whatever with no God. Its the final great 'God, get outta my life' battle. They loose though.. Rev 16:13 Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
Its all just speculation about the Great Delusion, but it works! I'm not going to be here to find out. I hope you aren't either.
Mark

God Bless America?

2008-05-26T01:11:00.000-07:00

Since 9/11/01 Americans have been singing and talking "God Bless America". Most of them don't know that his blessing are automatic to the nation that loves and serves him. Furthermore, curses come upon those nations that used to serve him and have turned away.

DT 28:12 The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. YOU WILL LEND TO MANY NATIONS BUT WILL BORROW FORM FROM NONE. 13 The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. 14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

DT 28:15 However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

DT 28:43 THE ALIEN WHO LIVE AMONG YOU WILL RISE ABOVE YOU HIGHER AND HIGHER, but you will sink lower and lower. 44 HE WILL LEND TO YOU, BUT YOU WILL NOT LEND TO HIM. He will be the head, but you will be the tail.

I kind of think that with China buying our Treasury Bonds and using our trade imbalance to buy large amounts of oil to grow their economy, we are being warned the the curse is falling on us every time we go to the gas pump or buy a flag made in China.

Just a Little Truth in Advertising

2008-05-26T01:00:00.000-07:00

Yes indeed!!! This reminds me of a guy known as "The Cosmic Muffin" that used to give an Astrology report on WBCN radio in Boston. He used to sign off by saying, "It is a wise man who rules the stars and a fool who is ruled by them"! Yes, Mr.Muffin, God is a wise man and those who live by Astrology and Tarot are fools and idiots!! You can almost hear Satan laughing at his slaves.

Previous Quote to Note

2008-05-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

"What Do We Mean by Evil"
This is a spiritual battle and we must know both what we are up against and what our greatest strength must be. There is a pointed philosophical question that rises from the dust of thousands of graves. We must understand what we mean when we use morally condemning words to describe the slaughter. What do we mean by evil? Evil, simply and plainly, is the violation of purpose. That is what it is. Innocent people used as missiles. A passenger plane used as a weapon. Freedom used for its own destruction. Purpose was intrinsically violated. Which means it is imperative to know what our purpose is as individuals and as a nation, else we will succumb to evil. We have before us as a nation the great and noble call to reconcile law with liberty. The ultimate moral law comes from God. The best expression of liberty is to reverence life. If we have no moral law and do not reverence life then evil disappears in a cloud of self-serving acts. May we be clear in our souls that when we understand our purpose in keeping with our Creator, no diabolical intent will destroy that which God has said will truly set us free—knowing His Word and abiding in it.
Ravi Zacharias

America in the Tribulation

2008-04-13T02:46:00.000-07:00

If you have studied anything at all involving Biblical End Times Prophecy then you cannot but help think that we are caught in that event horizon, increasing speed, headed down the vortex. Have you ever thought of how particularly bad it will be for America. Jesus said the the end would be like a "woman in labor". Those birth pains get closer together and more intense. Doesn't it seem like the news media is reporting diaster events in waves the last few years. Doesn't it seem like the diasters are getting more intense.
There is a principle in the Bible that does not bode well for America: the greater the revalation of God's glory the greater and swifter the judgement. Think of the those who had great revelations of God's glory and therefore the greatest evidence to know that he is God, worthy of all obedience and worship. There was:
Adam and Eve - they knew God and walked with him in the Garden. Their sin resulted in immediate knowledge of impending death, and banishment from idyllic life. They saw all sorts of evils and strife enter into humanity (their children and grand children, because of them).
Korah and his followers(Numbers chap 16)- Here were men who witnessed all of the miracles of the Exodus from Egypt and the pillar of cloud by day, the pillar of fire by night. They saw the manna and the quail. They saw the Tabernacle and its dedication where the "Glory of the Lord" came down and filled the place, and the priest could not stand to minister. The result of their rebellion was to be swallowed up by the ground and fall into the Abyss. The judgement was immediate and severe.
Achan (Joshua chap7)- he kept some of the plunder from Jericho. As a result 36 men died trying to take Ai, and Achan was later stoned.
Judas Iscariot - he saw daily the Lord Jesus, the miracles and heard the revelation of Jesus teaching. At his betrail Satan entered him. He had no peace, hung himself (Matt 27;5), he burst open and all his intestines spilled out (Acts 1:18)
Ananias and Sapphira (Acts chap 5)They saw the glory of Pentacost, the miracles, and the growth of the Church. They lied about a gift to the Holy Spirit and fell dead!

Now the Plymouth Pilgrims established a foothold America on the desire to worship God in the way they saw right. Their Coming to America was not unlike the Crossing of the Jordan river into the Promised Land by the Jews, or the escape by Noah and his family. They helped by Indians that could have simply killed them all. Later Jamestown was founded by an order from the Queen to establish a colony and "evangelize" the Indians. It is impossible to study early American history all the way up to the Presidency of George Washington and not see the miraculous hand of God in creating this nation. There after the U.S. has been blessed with wealth and power beyond any nation on Earth. How many songs have been written about the Glory the God has bestowed on America.
Which is better miracles or blessing? They are both a gift of God and evidence of God's Glory. A miracle is and immediate fix to a pressing problem and does give a revelation of God's glory but, if you are in blessing you don't need the miracle. If you are in a land flowing with milk and honey you don't need manna and quail falling from the sky? This has been the glory of God for America, it has been miracles in establishment and blessing in sustenance.
Now almost a majority of America has failed to take the time to see and remember God's glory and rejected him. Our society resembles those that God destroyed in the Old Testament and that of Pagan Rome. Imagine the judgement that will take place in America when the Church has been removed and the Tribulation has begun. At Korah's rebellion God commanded Moses to, "separate himself from the Assembly of the people" , Moses interceded for the people and told them to, "separate themselves from the tents of Korah and his followers". Then the ground opened up and swallowed the rebellious. This nation is being divided in many aspects and issues but all of the division seems to relate to one's stance on morality. The wheat and the tares are easily distinguishable now. Isn't the coming Rapture like the separation before the judgement?
Imagine the best and kindest 50,000,000 people taken out of our population. A high percentage of the military, a higher pecentage of the farmers families, any government offical, judge, or law officer that has ethics to do faith in God, etc. The chaos and upheaval will be greater here than anywhere else.
This American generation is pampered and narcissist. When the shortages, famines, anarchy, and economic collapse come they will suffer more than those who are used to poverty. Those who have grown up in this blessed land and seen the best of God's glory will have the hardest and most severe time in the Tribulation. Not only will the hand of God be against them but also the hand of man. The World hates us. They will not change their attitude instantaneously just because the Christians are gone.
The first thing I see is an ecomonic colapse. Imagine what the Stock market will do when 5o million people and their economic contribution evaporates into thin air. The banking industry will also take a hit when 10 million or more families are not their to pay their mortgages, credit cards, and car payments. Retail takes another hit, as well as property values and rents (think 10,000,000 or more vacant houses!!!). The whole ecomonomic situation spirals downward at blazing speed. The rest of the world, with lower population losses, is not hit as hard and moves in like sharks to kill the wounded prey. The euro takes over completely and the dollar is worthless with inflation escalating into triple digits and greater. The supply of foreign goods dries up instantly and there are shortages.
What an anarchy this will create in the streets. If there aren't enough troops to restore order foreign troops will be brought in. America will once again be a colony of Europe and serve it. America will be quickly stripped bare and left to die naked in the streets!!

Uncover His Feet

2008-04-07T02:06:00.000-07:00

Uncover his Feet

RU 3:1 One day Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, should I not try to find a home for you, where you will be well provided for? 2 Is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been, a kinsman of ours? Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. 3 Wash and perfume yourself, and put on your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don't let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do."

When I read this for the first time with more than just a passing interest, I was doing a study on the women of the Bible. I wanted a deeper more intimate understanding of what it meant to be “the bride of Christ”. So, I studied the brides of the Bible; Eve, Sarah, David’s Abigail and Bath-Sheba, Proverbs Chap 31, Ester, and Ruth.
Now I believe that scripture speaks to us at different levels. The ancient Jews would get a word from prophet or man of God and study it to see what it meant for the Jews, past, present, and future. Thus, when Jesus spoke, in matt 9:7, he mocked the Pharisees saying, “..but go and learn what this means…”. We know that there are three parts of Man made in the image, likeness, and glory, of the triune God. It seems that scripture speaks to all three parts of man. It is as if when God speaks all three parts are speaking at once in unison, at three different levels. As for the Jews remember he is unchanging, Past present and future, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Now remember that at Pentecost each man heard the “Good News” each in his own language. I think it is the same today that God speaks to each man through his word. The unifying criteria is that all scripture and all understandings must be congruent with all other scripture. It is the rule of non-contradiction. I believe it with all my heart. And can argue it to the death. Scripture is like fine poetry. You have to study the author and know something about him, know the meaning of his symbolism and the times he lived in. Then you can begin to see what he saw when he wrote, and understand what he was trying to say. That is “If” he is a “good” poet and stays in character. Your God is unwavering : he always stays in character. The more we know him, and get a brighter glimpse of him, the greater the revelation of his word.
Now I spoke of 6 dimensions of scripture: past, present, future, body, soul, and spirit. In the Bible the number 7 is a number of completion. In 2 Co chap3, Paul talks about Moses and the veil, how he had to cover his face with a veil to hide the reflected glory of the Lord from the people. In verse 18 he says,“ But we all, with open (uncovered) face beholding as in a glass (mirror) the glory of the Lord, are all being changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
See we have not yet been made perfect and don’t see fully, in the mirror, the image of Christ staring back at us. That will not take place until we see him face to face. In the mean time layers of the veil are being pealed away “from glory to glory“. But then, when we see him we shall see all and know all. I believe that seeing the Living Word, in full revelation, is the seventh dimension of scripture! When we are there in his presence looking into his face, THAT we be a revelation.
Now back to Ruth..

RU 1:1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man's name was Elimelech, his wife's name Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

RU 1:3 Now Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

RU 1:6 When she heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.

RU 1:8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back, each of you, to your mother's home. May the LORD show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me. 9 May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband."
Then she kissed them and they wept aloud 10 and said to her, "We will go back with you to your people."

RU 1:11 But Naomi said, "Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me--even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons-- 13 would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has gone out against me!"

RU 1:14 At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by, but Ruth clung to her.

RU 1:15 "Look," said Naomi, "your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her."

RU 1:16 But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
From that passage we should notice that there was something about Character Naomi, her husband, and Sons, that spoke so strongly to Ruth that she was won over to God and the Jewish people. She insisted on leaving her own people and home land to be with them. Isn’t that how a “living witness” is supposed to work: a beacon of light in a dark world pointing the way to the one true God!

Notice also, in verse 1, there was a great famine in the Land. Elimelech “went to live for a while in Moab” Now the Jews were not supposed to do this and they were not supposed to marry foreign wives. Naomi correctly ascertains that, “God’s hand had gone out against her” She purposes to go back to where she belongs. After hearing that God “had visited his people and provided food for them. (One has to wonder if this was a reenactment of the manna and the quail. ) God provides for his people in the place that they are supposed to be.
Look no farther than the example of Elijah. Elijah was told twice to go to a certain place and he would be provided for THERE

1KI 17:2 Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: 3 "Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. 4 You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you THERE."

1KI 17:5 So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

1KI 17:7 Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the LORD came to him: 9 "Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay THERE. I have commanded a widow in THAT PLACE to supply you with food."
Are you in the right place? Are your needs , spiritual and physical, being provided for, or are you being told to “go there”?

Now Naomi and Ruth go back to Judah and there Ruth is allowed to glean the grain that is left behind in a field owned by Boaz. This was provided for in the Laws of Moses . They were allow to pass through the fields one time harvesting and to leave the rest for the poor. Boaz knows that Ruth is Naomi’s daughter -in-law and dumps an extra scoop or two into Ruth’s pouch. Naomi seeing that Ruth has found favor in Boaz’s eyes, and knowing that Boaz is a kinsman gives Ruth some commands. She tells Ruth where to find him and what to do. Each one of these commands is a command of redemption for Ruth, the Jews, the church, and each of us personally. Sometime look at the book of Ester and see how closely Ester’s preparation to go into the King's chambers matches the commands of Naomi to Ruth.

3 Wash and perfume yourself, and put on your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don't let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do."

“ Wash and perfume yourself, and put on your best clothes:
In the Tabernacle and later the Temple there was first the door. It was the only way in. Jesus said, “ I am the way…” Next was the alter of sacrifice. Jesus was the sacrificial Lamb. Then came the “pool” or “Sea” it was where the priests washed off before going into the inner room, and up to the Curtain of the Holy of Holies, where they made intersession for the sins of the people. The Pool was like a mirror it was a place of reflection, of looking at oneself . The thought captured is to reflect on the inner man and see what God sees.
The perfume is to cover the smell of the flesh. A smell the God does not like. It is not the odor that he hates. It is the works and sin of the flesh that “stinketh” to him. For the Priests in the temple the perfume is the burning of incense. For us it is the thanksgivings, prayers and praise that, “are a sweet smell in the nostrils of the Lord” In putting on humility ,giving thanks, praying, and praising, we first suppress the flesh and begin to enter the spirit.
The “best clothes” we can put on is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our “garment of righteousness “

“Go down to the threshing floor…”:
The threshing floor is where the grains are separated from the stalks. It is the final phase of the harvest. It is where the “fruit” is given up. “Wait until he is finished eating and drinking” this is like the ritual of the group fellowship”

“Take note of where he lies down”:
This reminds me of the joke, not so funny, of the man who moved to a new town and needs to find a new church to go to. As he is driving through the town he is praying and sees a beautiful, large church on the corner in the center of town. He asks the Lord, “ is that a good church?” the reply comes back from God, “I don’t know. I’ve never been there”
The one wishing to be redeemed must seek him and take note of where he is. Psalm 27 is a Psalm of David. David became the grandson of Ruth through her redemption by Boaz , it says,”

PS 27:4 One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.

PS 27:5 For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock.
PS 27:6 Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to the LORD.

PS 27:7 Hear my voice when I call, O LORD;
be merciful to me and answer me.

PS 27:8 My heart says of you, "Seek his face!"
Your face, LORD, I will seek.

PS 27:9 Do not hide your face from me,
do not turn your servant away in anger;
you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
O God my Savior.

PS 27:10 Though my father and mother forsake me,
the LORD will receive me.

PS 27:11 Teach me your way, O LORD;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.

PS 27:12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
breathing out violence.

PS 27:13 I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.

PS 27:14 Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

“Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do“:

It was this command that got me going on this whole thing. “Uncover his feet”! Whatever for? What did that mean? My Spirit was telling me that there was something more to this passage, and it would not let me go. I thought, was the cold supposed to wake him up, or what? A few day later on Sunday we were all worshipping when it hit me: the women who uncovered Jesus’ feet.

There was the woman who suffered from moderate hemophilia. She was unclean because of her issue of blood and not even suppose to be in the city. She had spent all she had on doctors. She waited until after the dinner (Matt 9:10). Fought her way through the crowds of people pressing around Jesus, pushed her way down to the bottom edge of his cloak, reached out grabbed hold of it, and caught a glimpse of those beautiful feet. Putting together the accounts, from Matthew chapter 9, and Luke chapter 8, reads like this. (Notice that Jairus also fell at Jesus Feet. His daughter was raised from the dead.)

MT 9:10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples….Luke8:41 Then a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came and fell at Jesus' feet, pleading with him to come to his house 42 because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. 43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her… Matt 9:21 She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed."…Luke 8:44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

LK 8:45 "Who touched me?" Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you."
LK 8:46 But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me." LK 8:47 Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. 48 Then he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace."…
MT 9:23 When Jesus entered the ruler's (Jairus) house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, 24 he said, "Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at him. 25 After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up.…

Then there was the woman who “had had a sinful life” She washed his feet with her hair. She heard, “took note of” where Jesus “was” “eating”, bought perfume, went and washed the dirt off of those beautiful feet, with her tears and her hair, and anointed them with the perfume.

LK 7:36 Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. 37 When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 38 and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

LK 7:39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is--that she is a sinner."

LK 7:40 Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you."
"Tell me, teacher," he said.

LK 7:41 "Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"

LK 7:43 Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled."
"You have judged correctly," Jesus said.

LK 7:44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven--for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."

LK 7:48 Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

LK 7:49 The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"

LK 7:50 Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

There were many others who fell at his feet. Like the women who watched at the foot of the cross, they saw the nails and the blood dripping off of those feet. All of us must allow those drops of blood to fall on us to be redeemed. One thing is clear everyone will get a look at those feet. Some will be redeemed some will be crushed but, “Rom 14:11 It is written:

" `As surely as I live,' says the Lord,
`every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.'

Diet Sabotage

2008-03-03T11:25:00.000-08:00

This post is for you delusionary psychotics: jealous type out there. You who think that the only reason your significant other is trying to lose weight is, because they are, or want to have an affair. Just for you the Pepperidge Farm company has hooked up with a candle maker to create Milano scented candles. Now you can sabotage any diet by leaving packages of Milano's around and fill your house with their scent. It is warfare of the ugliest kind, link smelly cheese on a mousetrap. Your lover will be off the diet and onto heart attack Porkersville in no time.

Mr. Deity Rebuffed

2007-12-08T01:23:00.000-08:00

There seems to be a co-ordinated attack on the character of God this month. It happens every Easter and Christmas. While there are many out there this month, the following three made the covers of three magazines in three different media this month. Interestingly enough one attacks the character of God and faith, one attacks the character of God and those who worship him, and the third tries to kill/replace God with an idealized pagan/earth religion.

#1 Mr. Deity
The December 2007 issue of PCWorld highlights an YouTube hit series, "Mr. Deity". It has become so popular that YouTube put it on their homepage. Now there are book and T.V. deals in the works. Here is a paragraph from the PCWorld article.

'soon after the devastating Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami of December 2004, Brian Dalto, a writer/director in Temecula, California, began pondering why such tragedies occur. Why would an all-loving, all powerful God allow such misery? His musings led him to write a short comedy script, "Mr. Deity and the Evil," in which an anxious, distracted, yet essentially benign creator decides what types of suffering should afflict the human race. "holocausts?" asks his clipboard-carrying assistant, Larry. "Yeah, I'm gonna allow it," answers Mr.Deity matter-of-factly. Torture, natural disasters, and Down syndrome make the cut too. Taking those things out "will make it way too easy for people to believe in me," Mr. Deity decides.'

#2 And Lead Us Not
Published in Harper's Magazine Dec. 2007 issue. It is article written by David Lewis and Philip Kitcher, from "Divine Evil" in Philosophers Without Gods, published in august by Oxford University Press.
Here are three paragraphs. It is enough to see where they are going with this one!

'Standard versions of the Argument from Evil concern the evils God fails to prevent: the pain and suffering of human beings and the sins people commit. The most ambitious versions of the argument claim that the existence of evil is logically incompatible with the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, and completely benevolent deity. In my view, this version succeeds conclusively. But I think the usual philosophical discussions of the problem of evil are a sideshow. What interests me here is a simpler argument, one that has been strangely neglected.
We might start instead from the evils God himself perpetrates. In duration and intensity, these dwarf the kinds of suffering and sin to which the standard versions allude. For God has prescribed torment for insubordination. The punishment is to go on forever, and the agonies endured by the damned intensify, in unimaginable ways, the sufferings we undergo in our earthly lives, In both dimensions, time and intensity, the torment is infinitely worse than all the suffering and sin that have occurred during the history of life in the universe. What God does is thus infinitely worse than what the worst of tyrants have done.
Many Christians appear to be good people, worthy of admiration of those of us who are non-Christians. From now on let us suppose, for simplicity's sake, that these Christians accept a God who inflicts infinite torment on those who do not accept Him. Appearances notwithstanding, are those who worship the perpetrator of divine evil themselves evil?'(end of quote)

Attacks #1 and #2 are very similar accept Lewis and Kitcher go on to attack Christians. It's the old "can't make war on God so make war on the people of God" routine. Both authors ignore that it was the choice of humans to disobey one simple command that allowed all of death, evil, chaos, and suffering into the world in the first place. They want to blame God and call him evil for allowing it. That argument is as old as Eve blaming the serpent, and Adam blaming God and Eve, by saying, "[it was]...the woman that YOU (God) put here in the garden with me...". Adam was blaming God for creating the woman and therefore God was the source of this sin and evil. The writers of Mr. Deity are blaming God again for his creation in which suffering is allowed. The argument didn't work before a Holy God in the Garden of Eden and it doesn't work now, especially after the price for sin has been paid by Christ Jesus, for those who accept him. God gave man a choice and a way back for making a second choice.
I wonder, what kind of creation would the writers of Mr. Deity make? In a Slice of Infinity publication by Ravi Zacharias, Ravi lays out 4 possible choices for creation:

Ravi four possible worlds

'“Would you create a world with such pain,” the skeptic charges, “and if you did, could you at the same time still be called good?“.

Plainly speaking, there are only four possible worlds. The first is that there be no creation at all. Would it not have been better for God to have not created a world than to have created ours—where good and evil are both possibilities? The second is a world where only good is permitted, a kind of robotically beneficent universe. The third option is a world where there is no such thing as good or evil, an amoral world. There, right and wrong would not even be legitimate categories for consideration. The fourth is the world that we live in, where good and evil exist with the possibility of choosing either.

... our world is the only one where love is genuinely possible because freedom is a precondition for authentic love. We intuitively recognize that love is the supreme ethic and where love is possible, freedom is necessary. Where freedom is real, so is the possibility of suffering.
...Through the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ...you perceive the infinite holiness of God and His boundless love, we see God’s twin desires fulfilled in the Cross: His holiness satisfied through suffering, and motivated by love strong enough to endure pain.
...In the Cross love, holiness and suffering are brought together. God cannot be at the same time both holy and unloving, or both loving and unholy. Who of us cannot understand that love cannot exist without goodness.' http://www.rzim.org/slice/slicetran.php?sliceid=43

Now on the question of God being evil or perpetrating evil, Lewis and Kitcher claim that God is evil because he punishes evil with hell. Does that really make any sense?
Joe Boot of RZIM spoke on the topic..."if God is real, He must punish evil... Thus, hell assures us that there is an unbridgeable chasm between right and wrong as defined by God, and to deny it is to advocate the triumph of evil. If we refuse to believe Christ's doctrine of hell, we are denying that God is on the throne. Hell assures us justice is real and it is God's".
Isn't that what Lewis and Kitcher are really doing here: "advocating the triumph of evil" and "denying the God is on the throne". Repeating Ravi, Lewis and Kitcher lose their legs, "...Through the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ...you perceive the infinite holiness of God and His boundless love, we see God’s twin desires fulfilled in the Cross: His holiness satisfied through suffering, and motivated by love strong enough to endure pain.
...In the Cross love, holiness and suffering are brought together. God cannot be at the same time both holy and unloving, or both loving and unholy. Who of us cannot understand that love cannot exist without goodness.'

#3 The Golden Compass: 'How Hollywood Saved God'

This article written by Hannah Rosin is published in December 2007 Atlantic Monthly. It is not so much the article that is an attack on God, as it is the trilogy of books that the movie is based on. Hannah Rosin's title comes from the fact that Hollywood does not stay true to Author Pullman's theology. His purpose like that of Allistar Crowley's, and even Satan before that, is to tear down the notion and worship of God and replace it with a pagan, earth based, self deity, type of theology religion, which leaves a person separated from God and at the mercy of Satan. Of course Satan has no mercy people to him are just cannon fodder and pawns in the game of Who should be worshipped. Satan said to Eve, "...when you eat of it you will become like Gods..."Same old game in town!

The article

'This month, New Line Cinema will release The Golden Compass, based on the first book in a trilogy of edgy children’s novels written by the British author Philip Pullman. A trailer for the movie evokes The Lord of the Rings, and comparisons have been made to The Chronicles of Narnia. All three are epic adventures that unfold in a rich fantasy world, perfect for the big screen. But beyond that basic description, the comparisons fall apart. In the past, Pullman has expressed mainly contempt for the books on which the other movies were based. He once dismissed the Lord of the Rings trilogy as an “infantile work” primarily concerned with “maps and plans and languages and codes.” Narnia got it even worse: “Morally loathsome,” he called it. “One of the most ugly and poisonous things I’ve ever read.” He described his own series as Narnia’s moral opposite. “That’s the Christian one,” he told me. “And mine is the non-Christian.”
Pullman’s books have sold 15 million copies worldwide, although it’s difficult to imagine adolescent novels any more openly subversive. The series, known collectively as His Dark Materials, centers on Lyra Belacqua, a preteen orphan who’s pursued by a murderous institution known as “the Magisterium.” Or to use the more familiar name, “the Holy Church.” In its quest to eradicate sin, the Church sanctions experiments involving the kidnap and torture of hundreds of children—experiments that separate body from soul and leave the children to stumble around zombie-like, and then die.
The series builds up to a cataclysmic war between Heaven and Earth, on the model of Paradise Lost (the source of the phrase his dark materials). But in Pullman’s version, God is revealed to be a charlatan more pitiable even than Oz. His death scene is memorable only for its lack of drama and dignity: The feeble, demented being, called “the ancient of days,” cowers and cries like a baby, dissolving in air. The final book climaxes, so to speak, in a love scene that could rattle the sensibilities of an American culture that tolerates even Girls Gone Wild, because in this case the girl is still a few years away from college...
Four years ago, before anyone worried about marketing a movie, Pullman wondered why his books hadn’t attracted as much controversy as the Harry Potter series—another Hollywood favorite. As he told The Sydney Morning Herald, he was “saying things that are far more subversive than anything poor old Harry has said. My books are about killing God.”
The series begins in a parallel Oxford, England, at “Jordan College,” where the familiar and the fantastic coexist. Lyra is the anti-Disney heroine: an unruly, unteachable orphan cared for by the university’s dons who spits and lies her way out of trouble. She cobbles together a family from other brave, reckless cast-offs like herself: a kitchen boy; a young, runaway murderer; gypsies and witches. For a time she finds a surrogate father in Iorek Byrnison, a deposed bear king decked out in metal armor who speeds her through one of several parallel worlds. (As with most fantasies, any attempt to summarize plot and character edges too close to Dungeons & Dragons. Trust me, in the novels it all hangs together.) Her most intimate relationship is with her “daemon,” a soul that lives outside the body in animal form. In Lyra’s world, a child’s daemon can change form—hers can shift rapidly from moth to ermine to rat, depending on her mood—until its companion hits puberty, at which point it settles as a fitting animal. The daemons of the Holy Church functionaries? They tend to be dogs.
Iorek is an “insanely awesome character,” he added. “He can’t tell a lie,” Emmerich told me recently, “and [Lyra] is an expert liar.” ... while Iorek helps Lyra conquer the forces of God.)...New Line...spent enormous energy sorting out exactly how to characterize the villains in the movie.
“One small child can save the world.” With $180 million at stake, the studio opted to kidnap the book’s body and leave behind its soul. [ of course this is done with a witchcraft sex ritual like the ending of the movie 'The Fifth Element'- Mark]
Pullman has expressed admiration for Richard Dawkins, a fellow British atheist. Like him, Pullman views the prevailing forms of religion as destructive and oppressive forces in history. “Every single religion that has a monotheistic god ends up by persecuting other people and killing them because they don’t accept him...
When pressed, Pullman grants that he’s not really trying to kill God, but rather the outdated idea of God as an old guy with a beard in the sky. In his novels, he replaces the idea of God with “Dust,” made up of invisible particles that begin to cluster around people when they hit puberty. The Church believes Dust to be the physical evidence of original sin and hopes to eradicate it...for Pullman, sexual awakening triggers the beginning of self-knowledge and intellectual curiosity. To him, the loss of sexual innocence is not a tragedy; it’s the springboard to a productive and virtuous adulthood.'(End of quoting the article)

The next paragraph of the article tells how in Pullman's mind original Sin in the Garden of Eden was not the eating of a fruit from a forbidden tree, but instead the fruit was the discovery of sexual intimacy between Adam and Eve. I guess he forgot the verse where it says, "and Adam KNEW his wife Eve". There wasn't any dust/sin at that point, and no need to hide themselves from God. Having Sex was not the original sin, it was eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that was the original sin and it was committed in the spirit of ego, self, and pride.
Rosin makes note that Pullman makes the statement,"...My books are about killing God” and expresses an "admiration for Richard Dawkins, a fellow British atheist..." Then she mentions that his intent is not to "kill God" but to "replace the outdated notion of God". I personally do not believe that any of these attacks are written by Atheists. What all of these attacks are meant to do is create a spiritual and religious void that can be filled by the Satan in the person of the AntiChrist, and that is who the writers are working for, and in whom they put their faith!
These arguments are not new. I have often had these very conversations with a Unitarian/Universalist co-worker. It is not an accident that this attack is getting front place media attention. Satan still shows individuals the world from a high place and says, "fall down and worship me, [and do my bidding] and all of this I will give to you, for it has been given to me." Jesus did not deny that the world had been given over to Satan he just answered that,"it is written worship the Lord your God and him only"!
Sin and suffering are brought into the world by Satan, through pride and ego filled humans. Satan attempts to use that sin and suffering to cause unbelief in God. Thank God that in his infinite wisdom he only gave earth to man for a time ( 6 days or 6000 years) and that "this SAME Jesus is coming again" to repossess creation put an end to sin and suffering!
I leave you with one more thought from Ravi Zacharias:

"They raise the question of evil, and I’m telling you, it is more complex than they think it is. Why? Because one must question the questioner. If there’s such a thing as evil, you assume there’s such a thing as good. If you assume there’s such a thing as good, you assume there’s such a thing as a moral law on the basis of which to differentiate between good and evil. If you assume there’s such a thing as a moral law, you must posit a moral law giver, but that’s whom they are trying to disprove and not prove. Because if there’s not a moral law giver, there’s no moral law. If there’s no moral law, there’s no good. If there’s no good, there’s no evil. What is their question?

Now you may question the last jump: why do you actually need a moral law giver if you have a moral law? The answer is because the questioner and the issue he or she questions always involve the essential value of a person. That is, you can never talk of morality in abstraction. Persons are implicit to the question and the object of the question. In a nutshell, positing a moral law without a moral law giver would be equivalent to raising the question of evil without a questioner. So you cannot have a moral law unless the moral law itself is intrinsically woven into personhood, which means it demands an intrinsically worthy person if the moral law itself is valued. And that person can only be God." http://www.rzim.org/resources/jttran.php?seqid=117

And just think all of this just in time for Christmas!!!