Classic Comfort

Another MUST LISTEN

This message is powerful

The TRUTH is beautiful. I hope those that are blinded to it will someday see it for the amazing grace it is.

Hell's Best Kept Secret, by Ray Comfort

I've been a Christ follower for most of my life and this message is as powerful the day I gave my life over to the truth. I can listen to this over and over and never get sick of it. 

JOY!!!

I Am Not A Deist

I've read a book that has brought a subject I like, mainly, how and why people think the way they do, into a clearer view.  Of course, reading this thought provoking book caused me to ping thoughts into the vast realm of questions, answers and corrections and catechize to this solitary blog, for whom I write for myself, my family, my friends and any web travelers that somehow find themselves here.

Synopsis of Nature's God

So, I'll get to it. The book is called, Nature's God, The Heretical Origins of the American Republic, by Matthew Stewart.  Mr. Stewart pens a well written account of the revolutionary ideas that birthed our government. He begins with the reason for his inspiration, finding a copy of Ethan Allen's, Oracle of Reason, 1784, a lesser known, possibly plagiarized work of one of our Founding Revolutionaries.

Mr. Stewart gives a crash course in the stem tree branches of the philosophers our Founders gleaned their ideas from and no doubt framed their life around which lead to a formed government. The Modern Age is experiencing the repercussions and ever-evolving outcomes of the brainchild they set about in the Eighteenth Century.

He makes the point that five, free-thinking, in your face and ready for change, young men lit the revolutionary fires which layed the foundation for the more refined, palatable Founding Fathers to define and execute into the public realm.  It takes agitators to implement change otherwise status quo will reign.

These five men were Dr. Thomas Young, Ethan Allen, Thomas Paine, Timothy Matlack and James Cannon. A sixth would have been added except he separated ways with the above radicals later in life due to a change in heart regarding the principles they stood for, his name was Benjamin Rush.

Let me stop here, do you remember these names from your History classes? I could only remember two, Ethan Allen and Thomas Paine. What I was taught about them was a flash paragraph or two in a story formatted way, written in a manner of fictitious heroes. Most do not know Dr. Young was the organizer for one of the most famous events in American History, the Boston Tea Party (Samuel Adams is the one we know who lead the men to accomplish it). Why weren't these men given more of the stage? I do believe because they were the purest form of the Enlightened belief system they carried close to their hearts. These were the radicals living out their very ideas in the open. Ideas that when introduced to the mainstream, wore rough.  Ideas that needed the direction of brilliant artisans of wordplay in order to be kept alive. Enter, the eloquent, refined, educated Founding Fathers, to serve up these ideals in a palatable, rhetorical method. 

There is a propaganda machine the writers of history love to use. It involves mixed truths, revisionism, hyperbole. This master machine sways political, religious and moral thought. Debates abound over the facts of history. The debate over the Founding Fathers faith is a big one. Were they Christians, were they Deists, were they Atheists? The only way to know is by first source or contemporary source information. 

Why does it matter as to what they believed? It matters because a mis-informed mind or dumbed-down community can be controlled right into slavery. (Spiritual and physical slavery.) 

Mr. Stewart goes into great detail as to what these five paradigm changing radicals believed and what the Founding Fathers created and launched into the world. He begins with who influenced their minds and backs it up with context, first hand and contemporary quotes. It begins with master thought play artisans, most commonly labeled as philosophers.  These people are theoreticians who study human behavior, the origins of the universe and frame it with knowledge under a scope of experiences; they attempt to define life. They explain the How and Why. 

Edward Herbert, 1st Baron of Cherbury: Deist
Portrait by : Isaac Oliver (1560- 1617)

Philosophy: The Ideas Behind the American Revolution

The Enlightened crowd of the Eighteenth Century borrowed from the following thinkers in some way or another:

Philosopher                                                                             Highlight

1. Epicurus - 342 B.C.                                                            Atomist/Determinist- Swerve Theory

2. Machiavelli - 1469                                                              The Prince- Founder of Political Science

3. Thomas Hobbes - 1588                                                       Political Philosophy

4. Baruch Spinoza - 1632                                                        Father of Enlightened Science

5. John Locke - 1632                                                               Father of Liberalism

5. Anthony Ashley Cooper - Earl of Shaftesbury  - 1671       Moralist

6. Henry St. John Bolingbroke -  1678                                    Deism

7. David Hume  - 1711                                                            Skepticism/Naturalism

The main idea and philosophy derived from these men and believed by Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin  and the radical five in a very small nutshell consists of:

1. God is reduced to Nature and 'God' is functionally interchangeable with 'Nature'.  

2. The world can be defined through scientific means

3. Reason defines truth

Humanism/Reason/Science: Deist Trinity

The above tenets describe a faith in oneself or fellow man, a support of Humanism. Religion outside of theirs is just a moral pendulum good for keeping a sound society. God and religion are just useful tools to keep the strings of society healthy just as a good story told to a toddler at bedtime placates them to sleep easier than just telling them to go to bed. Some of them upheld the Christian religion as a wonderful moral maxim for living but they admit to rejecting the 'revealed' aspects of God's word. The common thread throughout these men of influence is their progressive decent from the God of the Bible.

In reality, Deism is Atheism just trying to be nice so it can get along with others. It is a form of manipulation to the benefit of the self. It is a liberation from God through free will, therefore, the individual man becomes a god unto himself.  Deism is the precursor to Modern Liberalism. Deism just throws God a bone in giving credit to the creation of the universe, but it ends there and pretty much slaps Him in the face by essentially saying, 'stay out of everything else, I know more than you through my empirical senses, although I still can't explain how I'm made and truly work through those senses (Science). Oh, I have a lot of good facts that describe the physical make up of man even though I have an incomplete picture, there is brilliance in it even, yet YOU weren't involved in any way. '

A Few Random Thoughts 

If I could draw Deism, I'd draw a box with man inside where the limitation that are already set upon him only grow smaller because a deist can't deal with the miraculous wonder of a God that participates in His Creation.  Where as following the God of the Bible puts God inside and outside the box, the box has doors and windows that are opened only when a reality is understood that beyond the self is an omnipotent God that guides us as we live in that box.  

The title of this blog is a statement. Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to a friend, William Scot stating, "I too am an Epicurean," and proceeded to talk about how his doctrines where misrepresented. There is an irony in this letter as the Founding Fathers misrepresented the doctrines of God by reducing him to Nature and throwing out the parts of the Bible they felt were unreasonable. 

What the Founding Fathers failed to realize or did realize and rejected is the Bible is a philosophical wonder that explains more of life to an extent that science has proven it true (watch out revisionism and oppression of truth).  Even Richard Feynman, famous physicist has stepped down the ladder of Atheism and admits a being had to design the universe.  Keep Going Richard, He wants you to know Him. 

Now, I have railed against religion on this blog , some may try to equate that with a deistic principle. If you take the time to really understand what religion is through the teaching of Christ, you will realize the philosophy of His word. Following God is extremely different than following a set of rules and traditions, it is so much more.  Yes, it involves Him revealing Himself to you.

Although I am not a Deist, I am grateful for the work of the Founding Fathers. They have given a form of human government that can't be matched when compared with other forms over time. Yet, I think it is very important to know the truth of the matter,  Our Nation had heretical beginnings and it will always be tainted when God is eliminated.

Inspired Scriptures

Don't mess with God's Word: Duet. 4:2, Duet. 12:32, Psalms 119:160, Revelations 22:18-19

God's Philosophy: I Corinthians 1:19-21, I Corinthians 2: 6-8, Acts 17:18, Romans 1:20-2, John 14:6

Science in the Bible: Read this Article, Proverbs 2:6

It's ALL or Nothing with God: Revelation 3:16, Matthew 7:13, Matthew 7:21-23, Isaiah 35:8, John 14:23-24

He is Active: John 14:26, I Corinthians 2:10, I Thess. 4:8, Nehemiah 9:20

             

Our Immortality

Recently, my daughter and I have read through a condensed version of The Odyssey for a school reading and writing assignment.  She is currently writing an essay on what constitutes an ancient hero contrasted with a modern definition of a hero. Epic literature can best be described as stories, narratives, tales laced with harrowing adventures perspicaciously put together with language to drive home an elemental truth. As I think on writing and history, another human theme emerges; morality and what is considered good, right and just. These components of writing kept bringing up another theme to my thoughts found in epic story telling, immortality.

The word immortality seems to be appurtenant with mythology; the traditional stories belonging to a culture with tales of gods and heroes depicting the answers to some of the greatest questions the human race encounters. Why we are here, how we got here and what we are to hominify as uniquely created beings.

Greek Glimpse of Immortality

Calypso offers Odysseus immortality using time as a conciliatory tool in her persuasion. She states, "For us there is no before or after, only now, wherein all things are and always were and always will be. Time, you see is a little arrangement man has made for himself to try and measure the immeasurable mystery of life." She proceeds to show him his past and future along with promises of imaginative variety to sway him.

Odysseus sees the pitfalls of the kind of immortality Calypso was selling. He placates her with adulation and states, " I can not be immortal, never to die, never to grow old. What use is courage then?" This statement sums up the idea man has one life, confined within time and growing old gracefully leading to a final end is a heroic, virtuous endeavor. Mortality in its indeterminate freedom is better than being a captive immortal.

Greek Mythology certainly champions the humanistic view that we have all that is needed within ourselves to successfully maneuver through the journey of life. Yes, people can live moral, good lives aside from God and even do some heroic amazing things that benefit human kind. Although some good may come of this, this way of life is pitted with paucity. It blinds one to the fullness God has in store for those who submit to His ways. Humanism has its end in self glorification which is limited by human bounds and has no eternal merit.  Humanism is essentially a Dead End. (Matthew 23, Romans 3:10, John 15:5)


A Modern Glimpse of Immortality

The modern age has regurgitated Greek immortality in the form of entertaining comic heroes and heroines such as; The Avengers, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and these stories mix humanisms' diegesis. In today's culture immortality is touched upon with a new mythology in the form of Transhumanism. Transhumanism is a belief that the human race can evolve beyond its  current physical and mental capabilities, especially by means of science and technology.

We have seen some of the effects of Transhumanism in the controversial human genome project. Robert K. Grahams, Repository for Germinal Choice was a precursor to current attempts at Genetically Engineered human perfection.  MIT is currently at the forefront of furthering these attempts at human advances towards immortal features.  Mary Shelly's Frankenstein comes to mind when I read about these technological advances.

Without going into more detail of our modern day, unethical, god-complex, humanism on steroids attempts at defining reality, I want to stop and define what real human immortality is. It must start with God and His immortality. He is the pure expression of immortality. Psalms 90:2 states His existence before anything created. God himself states his immortality in His name (Exodus 3:14) when he tells Moses, " I AM."  I AM signifies his self-existence and the Being of all beings.

Time and Eternity
Photo by: lumix2004

Human Immortality: A Truth

Since God is the ultimate immortal being, who created the human race (Genesis 1:27), we can now define what human immortality is. We know that we have a beginning through the fact of birth, philosophers throughout recorded time have tackled the issue of mind, body and spirit and the Internet definition of the word 'immortal' talks about the state of our current reality in this sentence, " Our mortal bodies are inhabited with immortal souls."

So it seems immortality has a basis in something outside of ourselves. It lies in something bigger than ourselves. I'm getting ahead of myself here, I need to stop and clarify a few facts regarding human immortality. Please bare with me as I try to explain a line of thought.

Calypso says time was a man made arrangement as a witty jab towards Odysseus' apprehension towards her offer. In the realm of truth,  God invented time for our benefit (Genesis 1:14). Time is placed in human history as a measuring tool. Time tells us we have a physical beginning and an end and in between these marks we have decisions and choices to make regarding the promises God has given us regarding eternity. Time is a mouthpiece of our mortality yet God intervenes in this medium through conditional, future promises outside of the confines of time in order to save us from the finality of mortality; Death.

The fact is God made humans in perfection, in His image then sin entered the world and corrupted the physical as well as spiritual aspects of His creation. Yes, in this lifespan our bodies are mortal,  decaying towards death but our souls  are immortal and when physical death occurs the soul lives eternally. (Hebrews 9:27)

This is where I need to bring my thought line back to the idea immortality is bigger than ourselves. I pose a question I'm sure has been asked before but is good to discuss under this subject matter. If our souls live on no matter what, why do we need God?

This is where the term death needs to be addressed further. Not only do our physical bodies experience a real death with all its physiological elements, our spiritual condition is either alive or dead as well. If your soul is spiritually dead, meaning without the redeeming value of Christ's promise accomplished on the cross, something humans can not ever accomplish on their own merit, your soul will live in a state of eternal separation from what constitutes life. There is no moving forward so to speak, it is a constant state of stagnation and want.  (And making a statement of faith  in Jesus does not constitute a free pass, salvation is an ongoing process through time).

Time is God's way to shake us out of our blind stupor, to see the reality outside of ourselves, and make every minute count towards what matters in life, sloughing off the things that hinder us in relationship with Him in the present state of being and solidify what will be made true in the future.

One more point and I'll end my speal. Calypso tries to seduce Odysseus with the promise of youth and says, " I was 2,300 years old yesterday. Look at me. Do you see any wrinkles." The world will promise us self gratification and stroke to our vanity now. God cares for your right standing with Him, he makes sure this is priority in our brief life in the point of time He places us in. If we can grasp the importance of Who He is, His nature, Why we are here (an interactive relationship with Him that CHANGES us) in that period of time before eternity he also promises us a new body, whole and without decay along with the mind of Christ outside the limits of time.

Human immortality brings us back to the perfection God intended for us in the first place; in body, mind and spirit!
PRAISE GOD!

Resources:

Bible Versus About Immortality

The Adventures of Ulysses by Bernard Evelin

Note: Ulysses is the name Roman culture gives to Odysseus. Odysseus is the name Greek culture uses).

More Thoughts:
I find it interesting Eliphaz, a 'friend' of Job who unjustly accuses him of being punished by God because of his sin, does get the basic idea that humanism is wrong in his statement found in chapter 4 verse 17. "Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?"

I Corinthians 15: 35-58 is a glorious passage written by Paul to explain the future promise God has given us regarding immortality. This makes me thankful for any service or sacrifice that God may require of me during my lifetime.




A Great Memory from 2014:

Alex is learning about the Universe. The latest lesson was listing the characteristics of each planet. One thing that popped out to us was the measurement of time for each planet. There is rotation and revolution. Mercury takes 59 Earth days to rotate and 88 Earth days to revolve around the sun. This got us thinking about the characteristics of time. All these planets are spinning at different rates, we certainly compare these to the constant we know, Earth. This got us thinking about Psalms 90:4 "For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by.." (The entire chapter is about our life in the span of time and how we need to be attentive to the accountability we have to God.) We find it amazing that God set the Earth's rotation and revolution as it is 1 day (Rotation) and 365 Day revolution. (It would take too long to go into all the details that make life happen because of this detail.) When we look out into space to study it, we are looking into something other than what we tangibly know and when we look outside of ourselves to God our perspectives have to change as well. In reading Psalms 90 it sure seems God has given us the mechanism of time as a benefit for our soul (verse 12). Is it a correct statement to say, time is a gift to help finite humans understand the 'position' we are in and to learn to trust the eternal infinite God? (It certainly looks like God doesn't 'need' time)

Let's Be Clear About Fresh Water

Have you ever had a moment when reading articles on a subject, something just doesn't sit right with you, so you read them again and stop to think about why they rubbed you the wrong way. Most of the time you can let it go and move on but this particular statement keeps nudging me in the side. It will even creep into my thoughts in order to spur me on in researching why I don't like it. So here goes my little rant on why the statement, 'fresh water is finite' irritated me enough to write about it.

First, I must clarify a few things to help give context to my reasoning on this issue. Let's start with the definition of finite.

Finite: Having limits or bounds. Synonyms: limited, determinate, fixed, restricted. "There is a finite amount of water in the system."

On the surface, the statement, 'fresh water is finite' is true. So why did these articles irritate me when they were discussing this fact.  After researching the water cycle and other science related facts about water, it hit me, it wasn't the actual statement that irritated me it was the context the statement was being used in.

Many articles subtly discussed the issue as if the last drop of fresh water was literally at the end of the barrel and mankind was on the brink of extinction. Some even vaguely mentioned population control as being a solution to our water problem. Others were a little less dramatic but used an emotional based slant for their argument to save the world. I smelled an agenda at hand by using a surface truth to manipulate an outcome.  See this article for reference. Note: I do not reject the problem solving needed in order for civilization to be responsible users of natural resources, I can just do without the fear mongering and half-truths which make you feel bad about using what God created for our benefit. I like to remind readers that God made it very clear He RENEWS (this word connotes an ongoing process) the earth, something we should rejoice in and give due respect to.

Setting agendas and politics aside, let me explain why I call it a surface truth. I call it a surface truth because there is more to the story that goes beyond finite boundaries and shows a miraculous truth so encompassing we should sit in awe of it. It's simple in it's beauty, complex in its' vast details, it is observable and plain to see, so reliable yet we can easily loose our focus on the entire truth and just focus on the surface truth which tends to lead to stagnation.

Fresh water is limited but God made a water cycle so intricate it is renewed daily, monthly, yearly. In fact, it has kept decades and centuries of populations going despite its' mis-use and abuse. I always take a stance towards being responsible and smart with what God has given us, we should always be mindful of the errors finite humans tend to succumb to concerning the natural resources God provides without fail.

Notice how I said finite humans. Water may have finite attributes but God designed and provided the water system to produce exactly what is needed in the past, present and future. An infinite God made this 'finite' system work the way He did with precision and as God tends to do, with an element of need, so the finite humans will learn to trust and follow His ways. It really is a beautiful picture of His amazing love and mercy for humankind.

I have to go off on a tangent here. When I observe the many ways in which God's system delivers fresh water to the earth I am awed by the beauty He made sure to work into His plan. Look at the many ways he shows His glory; vapor, mist, rain, sleet, snow and ice through the processes of evaporation, condensation, precipitation and transpiration where the water goes through a filtration process and comes out clean every time.  I also think of Romans 1:19-20, which states God's truth is plain for all to see through what He made, yet this is suppressed and ignored (my translation). In our day and age of Science and Nature worship, the water cycle has been one of those truths that has begun to be mishandled for ulterior purposes.

Since propaganda has its' grip on the definition of water I'd like to extend what I think of as a less muddled, closer to the whole truth definition of water.  I hope this makes things clear.

Fresh water in its pre-determined quota is infinitely renewable (despite the plethora of variances it experiences through its cycle). Fresh water is a miracle.

The definition of the word miracle according to the WWW is, "an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs." Maybe it's a stretch to some people to call fresh water a miracle but I'll let you be the judge of that. Read this well written description of the water cycle by Jeannette Walls from her book Half Broke Horses, a memoir of her families life as Ranchers (Ranchers tend to know how nature works) and you make the call.

"Sometimes over supper, when Jim got home after a storm, the kids would describe their escapades in the water and mud, and Jim would recount his vast store of water lore and water history. Once the world was nothing but water, he explained, and you wouldn't think it to look at us, but human beings were mostly water. The miraculous thing about water, he said, was that it never came to an end. All the water on the earth had been here since the beginning of time, it had just moved around rivers and lakes and oceans to clouds and rain and puddles and then sunk through the soil to underground streams, to springs, and wells, where it got drunk by people and animals and went back to rivers and lakes and oceans.

The water you kids were playing in, he said, had probably been to Africa and the North Pole. Genghis khan or Saint Peter or even Jesus himself might have drunk it. Cleopatra might have bathed in it. Crazy Horse might have watered his pony with it. Sometimes water was liquid. Sometimes it was rock hard-ice. Sometimes it was soft-snow. Sometimes it was visible but weightless- clouds. And sometimes it was completely invisible-vapor- floating up into the sky like the souls of dead people. There was nothing like water in the world, Jim said. It made the desert bloom but also turned rich bottom land into swamp. Without it we'd die, but it could also kill us, and that was why we loved it, even craved it, but also feared it. Never take water for granted, Jim said. Always cherish it. Always beware of it."

Further Reading on Water

Green Builders Journal, Water-An Infinite Or Finite Resource? by Herb Gardner

Science in the Bible: The Water Cycle by Cheri Fields

Psalms 135:7

Ecclesiastes 1:7

Ecclesiastes 11:3a

Amos 9:6b

Jeremiah 10:13

Isaiah 55:8-11

Job 36:27-28

Job 37: 16

Job 38:16

Genesis 1:1

Remember how I mentioned humans were finite? Take this into consideration, our infinite God who designed the water cycle for beneficial purposes also designed humans for a purpose. Can you guess what that purpose is? If you read my blog, the word relationship may be a clue, a relationship with eternal benefits.

THIS IS AWESOME. GOD'S PEOPLE (ISRAEL) USING HIS RESOURCE WISELY!
Must Read: Let There Be Water

The Worn Soapbox

My soapbox is firmly planted, I put my right foot on the worn surface. I stop, my knee bent and see a ragged hole or two on the surface, I look at it with pride before my left foot follows and I plant my body firmly in the middle. I scan the view before me as my head turns from right to left. My eyes encompass a foggy, barren field but my mouth opens anyway.

Photo by: Gracey

For those sparse few that read my blog, you understand I use it for many purposes. I often wield words against unjust causes and harshly scrutinize the world yet on the other hand will gush sentiment over a bee on a flower. I write what life teaches me. This post is dedicated to the few who see truth, don't try to change it to fit their world, embrace it, let it change them and go on to valiantly write and/or stand on the soapbox and open their mouths to speak what they have learned.

The Possession


My soapbox is the possession I carry on my narrow walk. Sometimes I sit on it, other times I kick it around. I pick it up every now and then and sling it over my shoulder, I let it dangle down my back and move along the narrow path waiting for the time when the cumbersome square will once again lift off my shoulder to be set on a level plane and bare the weight I carry.

The Path

The longer I try to walk the narrow road the more sensitive the rocky path seems to feel beneath my feet. The prick of the jagged rock is not a feeling you shrink from but one you welcome because you know it is there to teach you to be aware; to pay strict attention to lest you should misstep and fall.

Photo by: imageafter

The Perception

Subtle whispers echo across the wide road only to hit your ear drums as loud roars. So you shout back in order to be heard through all the background noise packaged in so many forms categorizing them would be a useless task. You try to be succinct in your call so the words will travel across the chasm with full force and hopes that those who are faced in the right direction will be able to transmit the faint noise.

Photo by: Aunt Owwee

The Reason

JESUS
He is the light to my path, He keeps my way straight. He teaches, reveals and guides me along the way and balances me in the process. (Psalms 23:3, 25:4 Proverbs 3:6, 4:11)

To walk on the narrow path is to take up your cross and follow Him. Sometimes He requires you push forward with nothing but the clothes on your back, sometimes to give your last possession to another you meet along the way, other times you will rest when you want to run forward. Sometimes He will hide and you will have to seek. Along the way you learn to know His voice but it gets even better with His promise to one day see His face.

I plan to keep following him along the path with my worn soapbox in tow.

Simple But Profound : Kindness

Sometimes when I work I use my phone and ear buds for listening to music. Eventually the station I like plays too many re-runs or has background static, so I scroll through my other options and today I heard a message on the CNN radio network. I don't keep up with christian radio but every once in a while I'll tune in and when I do a man named Alistair Begg tends to be the one that I really listen to. Not only because I like his British/Scottish accent but because he tends to teach the Gospel without diluting or changing it. In fact, his message was about that topic today; keeping the Word of God pure. He talked about Paul's relationship with Timothy and keeping the legacy of the Gospel alive for future generations. He spoke of apostleship and how we need to take special measures to guard the truth. (2 Timothy)

I immediately thought of our roles as a parents, we are the first torch bearer that either passes the torch on or let it go out. As a parent you are the "priest" of the family and what a huge responsibility that is. I find myself constantly assessing if I am living, teaching the truth of the Gospel. Do I handle the scripture correctly? Am I a living example of Jesus changing me? Do I live what I preach, do I walk the talk?

Alistair talked about the role encouragement takes in the life of the believer. Paul was in prison awaiting execution when he wrote to Timothy. Paul's letter was one of encouragement despite his circumstances. (Paul thought of Timothy as his "son" in Christ)

Then Alistair made a great point, "Mental cleverness may live on in the printed page, eloquence will quickly be forgotten, but genuine kindness will live on in the hearts of men for many a generation."

Then I asked myself, Do I express that simple lesson so easily missed, yet pours out on the pages as you read the Word, do I express kindness? The act of kindness certainly is encouragement. Paul wrote to Titus about doing what is good. Chapter 3, verse 3-8. "And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good."

Knowing truth also requires acting on it; in the correct manner. Titus 1:12, "Say no to ungodliness and worldly passions and live self controlled, upright and godly lives...

I can honestly say I have failed in that simple act (sometimes knowingly and sometimes from neglect). I can write about my favorite words, I can post a flowery lesson on what  God is teaching me but the lasting lesson that binds and lives on is born from the conviction and heart behind it.

My lesson for today was a simple yet deeply profound one. How you handle truth and pass that to others makes a memory; which one are you going to make? A good-kind one that shows the fruit of the Spirit, or one from the flesh that bares nothing.

Please let me know what opportunities God lays in your path to show kindness.

* Click on Alistairs name to hear his message on the Legacy of the Gospel...

Update: Watch out for the social gospel... it is not kindness. It is putting the cart before the horse. The gospel is speaking truth in love even at the cost of offense. True kindness is founded in this not feeling or emotion.

Sadly, Alistair is hanging with the Ecumenical crowd... he won't be sound much longer... 6/14/2019.
:(


  

The Earth Is Eternal

Photo Credit: Nasa, Apollo 13
"The Earth in the Age of Grace"

Here I go again bugging my friends and family with something that I’ve learned and just can’t keep to myself. Have you ever felt compelled to share some news that you’ve learned out of sheer excitement?

I am elated when a wrong doctrine I have held from previous religions teachings or a wrong thought from my own fleshly devices has been brought under the scrutiny of Jesus’ truth and revealed to me so I can submit and change to what He says is true. (Colossians 2:8)

I want to share this specific encounter with God’s truth because the thoughts I had seem to be a main theme talked about in current times in both religious circles and secular circles as well. It is a big topic; this phrase comes with a lot of emotion backed to it. People take this very seriously and many sermons and articles have had countless hours put into them about this subject, and it is one that can keep you from experiencing the full joy God has intended if it is not understood correctly.

The big topic on many minds and has been a recent subject many discuss especially with the current events in the Middle East is “The End Times”.

Let me tell you the wrong thinking I had about this subject and then you can decide if you relate and can read on. Maybe I am one of the few who thought this way and you’ll think, “Where did she get this concept, duh, Chandra how could you think that way”? But I have a feeling many people may have had the same problem I have, so I’ll just explain and go from there.

Anytime I heard or read or listened to preaching about “End Times” I would get this feeling of doom and gloom. It seemed so “final” and I would envision the hobo standing on Times Square in New York with his sign stating “the end of the world” is near. Somehow the phrase “end times” and “end of the world” inter-meshed to mean one in the same. When I heard anyone talk about this subject I would feel fear and hopelessness, wouldn’t you, when you thought the earth was going to be done and gone and void of human life? I would equate this with the end of the human race, the oblivion of the earth and any one who died just lived in heaven or hell, but there was still a nagging sadness at the thought that the earth was no more. I’ve always struggled with this and always thought something was missing.

I’ll throw a jab at myself here, a few brain cells must have been missing. Ha! I’ll blame my youth, it’s the easiest target, but something WAS missing and it was the full truth. The nagging feeling, I should have known was the Holy Spirit trying to get me to let Him show me what that full truth was. Ya know, He does have your best interest at heart.

Then during a discussion about this subject, a light bulb came on. Have you ever had a very slow computer, one that slowly loads information and then you call the Geek squad out and they get it going to full speed and you wonder how in the world did you get anything done on that old, slow version? Well, this is how the full truth finally hit me. I have been studying biblical passages, tweaking things along the way that the Lord has shown me needs changing. This discussion was like the Geek Squad because as I began to talk about what I was learning the thought hit me, “the end times is just that, the end of a time, the end of an age, it has nothing to do with the end of the big physical ball we call earth. In fact, the earth is eternal.”

This is where explanation is due, how can I say the earth is eternal when 2 Peter 3:10-13 talks about the heavens passing away and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burned up? (This is where a good teacher in the language of the Bible comes in really handy and I’m glad I have someone like that.) The more I study the Bible the more I understand the importance of context, history and original word study.

In order to fully grasp what Peter is talking about, one must also look at Isaiah 65:17 and 66:22-24. In the New American Standard verse 65:17 reads, “behold I create a new heavens and earth, 66:22 read, “which I make” verse 17 had a little mark at the top of the word create, so I looked it up in the Greek/ Hebrew lexicon. The word was ‘Asah’ the basic meaning is “to do” or “make”; in creations context ‘asah’ is a broad scope and deals with refinement. This word is used to define God’s creative activity. BINGO, did that explanation hit you between the eyes like it did me? It doesn’t mean a complete, new act of creating something from nothing, it means an act of refinement, taking something that is there and making it better.

Not only did this help me understand this intense heat that melts the elements isn’t going to annihilate the earth, just change it; the following verse solidified this notion, Isaiah 66:24 talks about man going forth to look on the corpses of the men who transgressed against The Lord after this intense heat is finished. If believers are able to see the corpses on earth the earth has to still be here.

Then a more complete picture comes into view as you read Revelation 21:1-8. Awhile ago I thought when we die or are raptured we go to heaven and stay there. The Holy Spirit dissolved this wrong thinking in verse 2- 3, in verse 2 The Holy City comes down out of heaven, and in verse 3 “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people.” The earth is eternal because God changes it so the city can come down from heaven and He dwells with men here. There has to be something here for the city to come down to.

And then what about Hell, it is a place on Earth. If Earth is utterly gone, a void in space, hell would be gone too, but that is not what scripture says. Revelation 21 verse 8 describes hell as being still here as a warning and reminder.

Another word that helped me see the full truth was the word for “world” is kosmos. Kosmos is “social system” and is used to describe a culture or race. The end of the “world” is the end of all the man manipulated systems that involve our daily lives and have nothing to do with God’s social system. It will be a breathe of fresh air when all the systems that hinder us from knowing God will be burned away forever. And sadly, men will die and their soul’s sent to the Lake of Fire because they chose to rebel against God’s plan, now that is something to look at with doom and gloom. A believer’s perspective should be one of rejoicing.

Can you imagine the sigh of relief, the extreme weight lifted off my shoulders knowing that Jesus the author of history, planned time down to the last detail and it included changing Earth into a place where tears are wiped away, no mourning or pain, death is overcome and God resides among men. (Revelation 21:4-6)Yes, “heaven” (or at least its attributes) will be a place on Earth, a place I speculate is hard for us to truly imagine in our finite mind.

Maybe you read this and think, ‘Duh, why would you ever have been so confused?” Or maybe you can relate and can now rejoice that when you hear the all too familiar phrases, The End of the World is near or, The End of Days is upon us, you will understand that yes, a time is coming to a close so another can take its place. And the next age is always moving towards Restoration of God’s original plan.

I have been reveling in the Joy of this truth. Christ’s message is always one of hope for mankind.
Romans 8:28-39… “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose…For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”