Corruption - not being able to ask the right questions

God's enemies seldom attack Gods people directly. Instead of a frontal attack, the strategy to attack God's people is through deception for the purpose of corruption. What is corruption? Here is a definition:

cor·rup·tion

kəˈrəpSH(ə)n/

noun

1. 1.

   dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery.

   "the journalist who wants to expose corruption in high places"

   synonyms:

   dishonesty, unscrupulousness, double-dealing, fraud, fraudulence, misconduct, crime,criminality, wrongdoing; More
2. 2.

   the process by which something, typically a word or expression, is changed from its original use or meaning to one that is regarded as erroneous or debased.

   synonyms:

   alteration, bastardization, debasement, adulteration "these figures have been subject to corruption"

The second definition is what concerns ideas, principles, etc. Corruption is simply a change from original meaning into a new meaning. This is accomplished mainly through deception, careful minor deception or twisting of things. Nothing obvious, but rather subtle, and usually for a good cause.  Yes, a good cause, some noble goal that Gods people can get behind and push for, not even realizing they are actually fighting against God himself in doing so. 

You see, the principle here is that in matters of righteousness, its not the end that matters, but the means to that end. Principles concern themselves primarily with the means. Not winning or loosing, but rather how the game is played.  How things are done.  Corruption says "accomplish this good deed, whatever means are necessary", but principles says "the principles of how things are done are supreme, and are the goal, not the good deed".  In fact, the best deed we can do, is to do things right by principle. 

So corruption comes in the form of deception to accomplish a good end by ever so slightly compromised principles. 

and then, slowly, the good deed at the end is accepted, the compromise along the path to that end are forgotten and accepted, and evil has a foothold. As time goes by and this process is repeated again and again, the compromises made to accomplish good things build up until the end goal of corruption is accomplished. among all the good deeds is a unnoticed reality that, Gods people can no longer ask the right questions! They have been so deceived along the path to perceived goodness that they do not even have a true foundation any longer. Principle, is lost. The original concepts of good and evil right and wrong, are so corrupted , changed, that good decisions are no longer possible. Decisions are no longer based on the consistent truth of Gods laws, but rather the interpretations of men.

That is corruption through deception, and the church in america is swimming, even drowning in it today. 

What is necessary to correct this corruption is a clear understanding of basic principles. This is difficult, becasue to get there, many related "accepted truths" must be evaluated and often abandoned. ITs like layers of an onion, each revelation of a  new corruption reveals more layers of corruption. Fingers of deception spider out from any issue into related issues, corrupting the whole of Gods truth. 

IT is when you realize that the question being asked is so far off base that it can not be answered by basic laws of God, that we must realize we are so horribly corrupted in our understanding that we must start over. How do we know if we are asking the wrong questions? easy... are we asking hte same questions of those who provided the fundamental truth? If the questions we ask are of a different character and nature than the recorded questions of hte original concepts, then we have drifted from the truth so far that we cant see the central principles anymore.  Principles, truths, do not change. Our questions, should not change.

I plan on a few blog posts to demonstrate where this is the case across a variety of issues. In all cases, the asnwer, the remedy is simple... return the the core principles regardless of how that process exposes doubt in our own pet beliefs. 

 

The coffee house

Back in the 1970s, dad started what was called a"coffee house". It was a popular movement across the nation in the 70s to provide a way for young people to escape a bad life... Mostly teen-ager s addicted to drugs. 

It was an interesting building. Built into an old grocery store across the street from our family business. The outside was non descript. Couldn't even tell it was something.. except for the big plate glass windows painted on the inside.

Inside was quite a site. Filled with half a dozen"tables"for sitting. These were the big spools from wire of the electric company. Spools maybe 8 feet in diameter. Either painted or covered with cloth. The ceiling was parachutes hung.. to deaden the sounds. The appeared like big fluffy clouds above. The walls were painted with Patel background and glow in the dark paints depicting scriptures, storyboards, etc. Black light were hung all around so that at night the place was dimly lit and the walls glowed with bright colors of scriptures and scenes. Even the baseboard was nothing but individual blades of grass painted all the way around the room in glow in the dark green paint.

There were essentially 2 big open rooms connected, and on the right in sorry of a strip mall config was the church room. It was respectfully calm in appearance with an organ, lots of folding chairs, nothing of the atmosphere next door.

In the back was the prayer room. This is where the real battles took place. Prayers, interventions, counseling, one on one sharing... The depth of the battle.

The coffee house was open most nights, kids would congregate there and hang out, play music, talk, pray, read. The church met weekly next door. For a few years, this was dad's life. He spent more time there than at home.

I remember stories that arose from the nights at the coffee house, although at my age I want invited to partake in the events there, only church and daytime visits. As I recall things I will post here

This was a significant party of dads life. It was modeled after David Wilkerson's work in new York that had swept the nation. It was also the beginnings of dads traveling ministry. The success at the coffee house was what people wanted to duplicate. They were hungry for god to move in their town.

Fascinating days indeed...

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The purpose of Jesus

Most religions have a beginning, a person, who spent their life creating or defining that religion. Before this person, the religion did not exist.  The focus of most of these religions is "how to have a better life".  Religion, all religions, are primarily about how to live here, now, in this world. Sometimes the goal of this living is to be worthy of heaven, or find a better place in heaven. Even so... the focus is on how to live here, not heaven.

Christianity (being "like christ") is fundamentally different from religion on both of these points.

First, Jesus did not start christianity. He did not spend his life creating a system of living, rules, beliefs, etc. He actually didnt start" anything. Instead, he came for one purpose and stayed focused on that purpose all his life.  He came to die... to live a perfect life and die in our place, paying the price that each of us earned as a result of our own sin. He came to die so that we can live.  Back in the beginning, it was decared "the wages of sin is death"...  "if you eat of it, you will surely die".  It is death that we deserve.  BUT... god had mercy He allowed a substitute for us. Jesus came as a man, lived as a god (perfect and sinless) but still died willingly under the curse of man. He did not deserve death, he could have lived forever, but he chose to die to pay our debt of his own free will.

All the other things jesus did, the miracles, the healings, were out of his own compassion. He had compasion on the people that were so sick and suffering and offered them health, wisdom, advice, etc. Unlike the prophets of other religions, Jesus did not set out to create a sstem of living here, on earth. He focused on making it possible for us to attain heaven.  Not by the deluded notion that we can ever be "good enough" to earn heaven on our own, but rather by paying the debt owed that legally seperated us from god.

Secondly, JEsus teachings focused much more on how heaven works than on anything pertaining to this earth. He focused his listeners on heaven itself, not a better life on earth. Unlike all the prophets of other religions, he was not focused on the "rules" nor the life of people. He knew that only through his payment for their sins would thye have any chance... so he focused on showing us what heaven is. His kindgom truly was not of this earth, as religion is.. his kingdom is of heaven where he invites us now.

So a fundamental difference between christiantiy and religion is that christianity is a drive from the inside out to be "like christ" and accept what he did as enough to get us back to God. We then have a desire to act as he did here on earth. Religion tries to force man to save himself... live better, be better, in order to please god.  They are, truly , opposite notions.

Jesus came that we might live in heaven instead of die for our sins... his compassion led him to give a better life here, but that was never the focus. The focus is on his kingdom, heaven.  Never let the substitute of religion, rules, self power,  decieve you into thinking that you can find your own way to heaven... nor that this life is the most important thing you have. It isnt. The most important thing is accepting jesus payment for our sins so that we can live forever with God, AFTER this life is over.  And yes, in the mean time, life here gets better and better... but again, that is not hte focus.  Keep your eyes on the prize... life forever with our creator...

Not by man but by god, so relax

http://bible.com/100/luk.12.11-12.nasb When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."


One of my favorite scriptures...

First  We will be given the opportunity to Speak in high places,  orchestrated by god himself. What many see as persecution is actually god given opportunity.

Second...  We will have the words to say in the moment,  if we trust.  The holy spirit will fill us with wisdom beyond ourself in the moment. 

Third...  Don't worry!  Don't fret over the exact words to say.  Don't memorize speeches,  don't plan.  Instead pray.  Don't lose sleep worrying,  instead relax and trust.  Therein is the secret of life.

Fourth...  Is not by our power nor wisdom we will succeed,  but by his.  Not by man's glory,  but by god.  Not by man's talent,  but by god.  Moses could not speak well but god intended him to speak to Pharoah.  We can speak if we pray and trust.

A major point here is one that my dad spoke of often...  Success is not add much about talent nor ability nor schooling at it is about gods actions.  Man tends to rely on man,  in ourself.  Wet think that we must improve to be successful,  that the power to do so is in our hands.  That is not true.  Sure we should strive to improve,  but realize that if god calls us to do something,  wet are also made able to do it.

An offshoot of this is...  This isn't about talent.  What gives more glory to God,  a person who naturally sings will that sings for God also,  or a person who can not sing well but when they sing for god,  lives change,  people are touched,  and compliments come.  The latter demonstrates god's power while the former is man's talent.

God will use the "Poor things of the earth"  to accomplish his will to show that it is him.  If you "can't do it"  but are called,  go.  He will give you the ability from his riches and you will succeed by his might,  not yours.

Only one sign

Jesus stated several times that he only will provide one sign to prove that he is the saviour.  Not healings,  not miracles,  not walking on water,  no...  The ombre sign was this...

He would rise on the third day.

That is it. Everything else he did and said was out of compassion for the people.  Only his resurrection,  of his own power  proves anything.

Why is this important?

Because many will come and have come working miracles...  That means nothing.

Many will come with wisdom,  teachings,  truths.  That means nothing

Many will come with claims and proofs...  They mean nothing.

Only death and resurrection has meaning.

This is why any religion that denied the physical death asks resurrection of Jesus is false.  History shows that he lived,  died,  and rose.  So all the deny that are expressly false. 

The empty grave,  the eye witnesses,  that is all the proof we will ever get....  Besides Meating Jesus himself.  He is,  after all,  alive and well today.

The nature of Islam

I won't go into much supporting detail for now,  instead just make the statement that Islam is far beyond a false religion.  In comparing the "end of the world"  as prophesied by each of Islam and the Bible,  I have come to realize that Islam is a unique form of Satan worship.  It is in fact the polar opposite of Christianity.

Take a close look at the end time prophesy and you see that they match perfectly,  but ON OPPOSITE SIDES! Yep...  Islam perfectly describes the final showdown,  from the opposing side to the description of the Bible.  This is significant. 

There are 3 beings involved on the earth at the end in both versions of prophesy,  for the same stated reason. 

Bible version                Islam version
Antichrist                   Muslim world teach/ political leader
False prophet             one who claims to be Jesus but not son of god
The dragon(satan)     allah

So you see,,,,  Islam is not only the birth of the Antichrist,  but more importantly,  the analogy points to Allah as Satan himself!

This matches with the goals and nature of Islam.  Islam is all about setting up a worldly Kingdom (which is Satan's domain),  forcing people to live according to his "right"  (force is Satan's way),  and destroying the nonbelievers (Satan's goal).  I am more and more convinced that we are watching historic days played out,  with a final battle shaping up within the next few decades between Christianity plus Judaism against Islam. 

Of course we know who wins....

Scientific Proof of God's Existence

There is often the notion that science and the bible are at odds. But that notion is just silly. The two are actually unrelated. Science seeks answers to explain the universe that God made for us.  That said, many attempt to use science to disprove God's existence.  This is sad.  Science should be used to find answers, truth, not to make proofs.

The video here presents one view of hte crossover between bible, God, and science. It takes what is commonly accepted modern scientific findings, and shows how they actually point to the necessary existence of a creator, commonly known as God. There are several point presented that are debatable as they are NOT facts (i.e. billions of years of time passing) but in general I agree with his conclusions. 

 

The precepts of men

Dad made a profound observation one day...  This was around the time that "self esteem"  first rolled into the world as a major thought.  He said the following  (paraphrased)

When a sermon is based on truth it will be filled with scripture references to support the claims made....  But on certain topics those same preachers delivery a sermon that had only one or two half quotes scriptures. When there are only on our two individual verses to support a message,  is probably wrong."

I have watched this be true over and over.  When speaking about things like self esteem,  education,  etc...  There are a few quoted scriptures at best and then loss of the wisdom of man.  On basic points of doctrine there are lots of scripture used. 

The lesson here is,  when there are few scriptures,  be wary.  When one had to seek out versus to support what one thinks,  be careful.  When man is quoted more than god,  be skeptical.  To many use scripture as a"proof " of their own ideas instead of looking to scripture to find the truth.

Go to the bible to find truth in context.  Don't go to prove your beliefs.  Trust  messages that use multiple scriptures taken in context more than those that simply spout versus independently.  Check how many times the bible is used versus quotes from people.

An example is the classic "love your neighbor as you love yourself".  This is often used to claim that you must love yourself first in order to live your neighbor...  It is quoted to give proof thar man's biggest problem is not loving oneself enough. You can't give what you don't have.  Etc...  Etc.  Ironically though,  if you read this scripture in context and align with the bible message you find the exact opposite throughout.  Jesus is saying that everyone already lives themself,  we should love or neighbor that much.  Jesus taught that wet have to give up our own self,  die to self,  not cherish it.  Love of self is the problem,  not the solution.   Sermons and writings pushing the self love,  self esteem concepts have few scriptures to rely on ,  and they are taken without the context of scripture.

So be careful,  with the truth of god vs the precepts of man.  They usually clash.

Why a manger for the king of the universe ?

This post is written Christmas eve.  I lay here contemplating one of the greatest mysteries of all time.

Jesus the Christ,  King of Kings and Lord of Lord's,  creator of the universe,  firstborn son of the living God,  the highest of the high,  and yet when he came to earth to live among us,  his life was anything but royal in man's eyes.  His life is exemplified in this....  Born in a manger.

The manger represents the lowest possible position in life. Kings are born in palaces of gold,  silver,  ivory and laid on only the best linens,  soft beds,  in expensive soft clean clothes.  Jesus,  rested his first night in the stray and hay,  surrounded by manure,  filth of animal pens,  wrapped in old ripped cloth strips.  So why?  How could this be?  Did God the Father not care about his only son?  Did the angels not protect and watch over his prosperity?  Why was Jesus born a pauper,  not a king?

Simple,  to show us how useless,  cheap,  undesirable the riches of this world are.  Riches around us are but the dust of the earth.  Prosperity,  power,  position,  ....  Those are the manure in God's Kingdom.  Jesus came to life by example,  to show us that none of that stuff matters.  He started out the poorest of poor.

Seeking worldly riches,  valuing them,  is a lie.  It is THE lie.  The lie of the serpent was to seek life here above life of heaven.  To be satisfied with the pride of life,  the comfort of our present existence,  the riches of a fallen world. It's all the same lie... It caused death and misery then,  and it still does today. 

There is nothing here,  of here,  by here,  that fills the heart. No house,  no car,  no recreation,  no bank account,  no pleasure of this earth can truly satisfy.  It's all manure when compared to heaven and the riches to be found with our father who art in heaven.

Great grandma moody said that she saw heaven once.  When asked what it was like,  all she would respond with is.... "it's so beautiful that if you saw it you would kill yourself to get there and thereby miss it".  That says volumes.

Why worry and fret over things here,  that the eye can see,  the body feel?  Instead,  fix our eyes on true riches,  true joy,  true prosperity of our mansion over the hilltop.  It is real,  it is there waiting for us.  The scriptures,  Jesus himself says.  Our real home is waiting.

That's why a manger for the ultimate king.  Why not?  It's everything as good as being born in the most beautiful Palace.  It doesn't matter.  If we have the breath  and spirit of the God of the universe living within us,  our earthly position means nothing.  Jesus lived that.  He walked among kings as easily as he laid in the manger. 

Live.  Don't compromise your time here by seeking...  Here.  Seek true riches,  true success.  No scale on earth can measure true success.  It is only found in God's own heart.  Seek him.  Live. Straw or gold.  Just live by his grace.

death

"You start to die the minute you are born,  it's only a matter of time"

That is words of wisdom from great grandma moody. And it's true.  Ever since Adam and eve received the judgement of the curse for disobedience,  life is the process of death.  We are all on limited borrowed time.   None of us knows when we will die,  but we know for certain that we will.  Coming to terms with this reality is the best way to live.

Why is this?  Surprisingly....  Many point only to disobedience.  In fact this is one of the complaints of atheists....  "How could a loving God and father give such a harsh punishment for a single act of disobedience? " they ask.  It leads them down a path of rejecting such a notion.   But the reality is,  it wasn't just an act of disobedience,  it was so much more than that....  And it was what we do so often today.

The" apple" in the story represents the desire to be like God,  without him.  To usurp his position of creator and owner of the world,  and of our own life.   Think about the implications of "the knowledge of good and evil".  Knowing good and evil serves only one purpose,  choose for yourself.  To be the master of your own destiny.  To life your own life.  To judge whether something...  Everything...  Is good or evil.  To play God.   That is the "original sin".  It represents a lack of trust,  lack of respect,  desire to be in control,  to decide for ourselves,  to run things our way,  to do what we want with our life.

Go back to the analogy I use of us being God's computer program.  We are a runaway program,  a piece of software that has "gone off in the weeds"  by leaving it's designed purpose and is off unproductive doing its own thing.  Consuming resources with no benefit to the purpose it was built for.  Infinite loops,  memory leaks,  etc.  That's us.  Amazingly....  God didn't stop the program,  instead he ONLY said " ok,  here is what you asked for". 

You see,  God granted us our wish.  We wanted to be our own boss,  run things,  decide for ourselves,  and he granted that wish.  It must of broken his heart to let Adam and eve,  and each of us,  go from his garden.  We demanded to be on our own,  and he let us.  Death is not a punishment....  No...  Death is what we asked for.  Adam knew he would die,  and he wanted to ge on his own anyway.  He thought he could cheat death.  His pride made him believe that he could be like God and live forever without God.

Oh Adam....  We got your wish.  But it's all of our wishes.  We each have rejected God and desired to eat that same apple.  We are all individually guilty.  We all are the prodigal son,  demanding inheritance to go off and live our life our way.  In other words,  we each have demanded death for ourselves.

It wasn't a punishment,  it was a consequence.  "please don't do that...  If you do,  you will leave me and die.  I will miss you horribly,  I love you.  Stay in the garden,  I will give you everything,  just don't leave."  but...  We left.

We should perceive death as what we asked for.  In essence,  Adam took the chance that he could figure out how to beat death on his own.  He failed.  Everyone has failed.  They are all dead (except perhaps for the anomaly of Enoch,  another story)  we,  will fail.  Our bodies will die.  Period. 

The lesson here....  There are so many.  Death is real and unknown.  Death is not as much a punishment as the result of.  "the wages of sin are death".  God didn't decided to kill us,  no....  He pleaded with us not to choose to try to beat death on our own.  He wanted us to live forever with him.  So much so he gave us a second chance.  Through Jesus we can live.  He died in our place,  paid our debt,  beat death for us,  and we can live.

Death.  It is only a matter of time.

We are managers, not owners

When God created everything that is,  he made man in His image,  uniquely different from every other living thing.  Man is the only thing made this way,  like Him. Why did he do this?  There are perhaps many reasons,  but one is in our purpose.  We are made to manage.

Good designed the earth with many forms of life that follow natural laws.  He defined the laws,  the way things follow through generations,  the way everything interacts.

I think of this much like a computer program.  It runs,  following the logic built in. It does predetermined things,  according to its own logic.  Each aspect of the program fulfils is purpose following the "rules"  of logic.  This is just like all forms of life having a purpose and being bound by natural laws of logic.  Animals,  plants,  insects,  bacteria,  all these things follow the logic of earth's "program ".

And then there is man.  Uniquely designed to manage all that is in his world.  We are the manager,  the zookeeper,  the gardener,  the supervisor.  God made everything and put us in charge of it all.  We have a free will,  the ability to reason,  the drive to be more than our own tiny person,  and the proper to manage His things.

He didn't give us this planet as our own,  no...  He put is in charge of his things.  They belong to God,  not man.  We are tasked with keeping things in order and prospering.  Remember the parable of the talents?  Look it up.  To him is given much will much be required....  We,  man,  have been given the earth.

Every man,  in his natural god given frame of mind,  had a drive to own land.  (own in the sense of having the ability to freely control).  They is a deep instinct inside man.  The size of land that we own,  control,  is part off the responsibility fulfilment of our commission.  Whatever land each of us owns,  it is our responsibility to see that it prospers during our life.  They is our watch,  or chance to show our father and creator what we will do with his stuff when left in charge. It is the original calling of man.

I give you no direction on  HOW To succeed at this highest calling,  but rather to impress upon you the gravity of the calling.  This,  all that we have,  is HIS  stuff and some day he is returning to reclaim it.  What will He find with the portion that we had control over?  That is the question!  Each of us must answer individually.

The "stuff"  I refer to its things like :

The land itself in an ecological sense.
The animals and plants under our control
The children he granted us
The time he grants us
The influence we enjoy
The capabilities we experience

On and on.  Everything about life is temporary,  a job,  a calling.  We don't own this for our own personal enjoyment,  life isn't about being happy and finding as much pleasure or recreation possible,  no....  Life is a job.  We are created to watch over his things while he is "away".

What will you do with your day?

Have you forgotten?

Few days change a life forever. Fewer change many lives forever. Yet each generation has it's defining moment. That moment when things get real.  For my generation, that was September 11, 2001. That was MY generation's Pearl Harbour.

I remember that day well. I had just dropped kids off at school and was heading home when it came on the radio. I rushed into the house and on the TV, there it was. Amazing footage.

This video is a well done, actual footage recording of the facts and emotion of that day.

Here is the source of the video and proper credit.
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10205008294791857

What I would like to stress is this...  This day, as bad as it was, was but a warning. If america does not change, if YOU as the next generation do not turn to God and repent of selfish idolatry, then what you see here will only be a foreshadow of things to come.  This is not a threat, but a warning of reality.

America is NOT isreal .  But still America is a nation that publicly says it is founded on God's principles, and trusts in that same God.  Look at your money... "In God We Trust". That means something. Even if it doesn't bring shudders into your soul, it means something to God Himself, and He will hold us accountable.  As long as we proclaim that we are trusting in God, we are bound to Him and His justice. To expect any less is foolishness.

This day, September 11, will either be a turning point or a shadow of real horror. the choice is totally our. You can turn off the video, but you cant turn off reality of the message it brings.

Quoting scripture

I consider quoting scripture...  Dangerous.  Most cults are based on scripture,  but a subset.  Most fallacies are based on truths,  but half truths.  Most errors start with truth. 

Truth is in concepts,  not phrases.  The Bible is a set of stories and letters,  not verses.  Dividing a letter or story into collections of sentences and then using those selectively is..  Dangerous.  It bypasses all context.  Contact is the beginning of understanding,  the protector of truth.  Context provides  a framework of understanding.  Otherwise,  what is really happening is the person quoting scripture out of context or without regard to context,  is using a single item to create their own context.

Think about this...  Take a sentence from a story,  and build your own story around it.  Does your new story have anything to do with the original?  Is there any tie between the original story and the ideas presented there and the new story created around a new context?  Not necessarily.  This is danger,  it is using an obvious truth (Bible verse)  to further what may be ones own thoughts.  But the thoughts are not based on the context of scripture.

An example is when a person quotes a scripture that begins with "for"  or "then"  or "therefore"  etc.  These words themselves build a bridge between verses that provide contact,  meaning.  Taking a second verse with out the first is taking a half truth. That is danger.

The Bible stories and letters are written for a reason.  They are not collections of verses (except perhaps proverbs),  they are stories.  Consume the entire story,  look at historical context,  get inside the author and understand what he was thinking when writing,  what question,  problem,  topic was he addressing,  what was his goal.  Then you are beginning to understand  in the safe confines of context.

I could give dozens or hundreds of examples.  But I won't.  This truth is so obvious once you see it that it becomes overwhelming.  You won't be able to listen to most preachers or commentators without asking "what's the rest of the story".  Dig,  let the holy ghost guide you into truly understanding the big picture.  Be skeptical of any teaching based on a single verse. 

Instead of reading verses collected to prove a point or provide meaning,  read the Bible as what it is.  Forget verse or even chapter.  Read it as a letter,  in entirety.  Or a story in entirety.  Ask questions.  Think broadly.  Only then do individual verses provide meaning,  in the context they were authored.

One reason I trust David Wilkerson as a teacher is that he seldom  uses verses in isolation.  He usually gives a complete thought from the Bible,  and then provides historical context behind it,  before making his point.  This is safety,  protection for heresy.

So be safe,  think broadly,  read more.  Ask questions,  dig deeper,  before you accept any truth.  True and complete truth will stand any level of investigation.

Even if it "could" doesn't mean it did

People stretch so far beyond logic and reason in their attempt to prove that God doesn't exist.  But the more amazing thing is,  other people blindly believe the lies and half truths without a second thought!  Amazing.

One such logic error is this...  In the evolution supporting thought process is a grave fundamental logic error where they claim "if it could,  it did".  Meaning...  If any process for evolution can be proven that it could happen,  it must have happened.   That is an outright lies there are two burdens of proof here,  not one.

First prove that something COULD happen
Then prove that it DID happen

The first in no way proves the second,  only allow the second to be considered.  The first on its own only present opportunity,  not incidence.  But that fact it totally ignored in evolutionary thought.  The scientists behind evolutionary thought are not seeking the truth,  they have already made the assumption that evolution is how life began,  now they are searching for ways to prove their decision,  which was not based on fact.

Take darwin  himself.  He was on a personal to prove that there is no God (becasue of the experience with his daughter) ,  so he goes on a life mission of looking for an alternate reality.  He must find a way that life could have began without God.  His goal is to disprove God,  not find truth.  He is already skewed. What he comes up with is a plan of how life "could"  have evolved without God.  But he never took one step to prove that what could have happened by his theory  actually happened.  He just assumes that if he presents another possibility,  it will be blindly accepted as fact.

And it was.

To this day,  not one scrap of evidence exists for what "did"  happen,  only theories of how it "could have"  happened.  In fact,  a logical look at the historical evidence brings one to the conclusion that only the biblical view is supported.  But even when you twist this evidence by a foundation of no God,  you only arrive at "if god doesn't exist,  here is an alternative that makes some sense".  But that doesn't prove that the alternative happened,  only at best an alternative.

So be wary of these sort of illogical assumptions.  They are rampant in science today. 

Even proving what could have been,  wouldn't prove that it was.

But..  By the way.  Science is falling further and further behind in even proving what could have been,  as more and more evidence refutes the possibility of evolution.  But that's another blog post.

There is always, and rarely, a conspiracy

Conspiracy theories....  Everywhere.  Any major event and many minor ones are quickly attributed to a conspiracy theory.  Often the fact seem convincing,  even TV documentaries are made to sway your thinking.  Some people always assume there is a conspiracy behind everything,  other assume that is all silliness.  How can you know the truth?

Look deeper.  Both are true.  Is there a conspiracy of people secretly working together to bring about a secret agenda?  Rarely,  but maybe,  but no matter.  The deeper truth is this,  there is always a conspiracy of unseen forces working to deceive and destroy us.  Always.

The Bible is clear,  we do not need to fear man.  No man,  no collection of men,  no government,  no king,  nothing.  No conspiracy of men can hurt us.  This is because the true enemy is not our fellow man,  but the unseen forces and entities of the air.  There is a devil,  he has a band of fallen angels,  and they are constantly out seeking to deceive and destroy.  That is the conspiracy.  It is an unseen army constantly and wisely fighting against us.

But,  they have no authority over us,  except to deceive us first.  It is only through our falling to their deception that we one the door to problems.  They bring lies wrapped in half truths,  they bring darkness disguised as light,  they bring evil wrapped in a thin vel of good.  Just like eve and the apple,  they use craftiness to test us,  tempt us,  try us.

Our job is to stand firm on the absolute truth of scripture and God's own words.  Resist the devil and his conspiracy of temptation and he will flee.  That is the promise,  he will flee.  But oooo his craftiness.  He brings what our flesh most wants.  He brings promise of comfort,  success,  pleasure,  ease,  power,  all the things that he can make good on!  All the things our fleshly nature craves.  He brings us what we most want.

The conspiracy is that he promises the desires of the flesh,  knowing that if we fall for the bait,  we will live for the flesh,  consumed with world passions, desires,  and dreams,  and in the process find ultimate misery and pain,  and separation from god.  Living for self,  for pleasure,  for things of this world separate us from god and his mercy,  grace,  and goodness...  Separate us from his love and protection.  That is our choice today,  everyday.  Obedience or the "apple",  that forbidden fruit of promise and pain.  

There is a conspiracy,  behind every turn,  but not of man,  of our true enemy,  Satan and his cohorts.  Sometimes men are involved,  sometimes not.  No matter,  the enemy is within them,  in their hearts,  not their manhood.  Find Paul Harveys discourse on what he would do if he was the devil.  It is brilliant,  and so true.

The devil,  Satan,  the servant,  is your enemy and mine.  He will use everything in his crafty wit to tempt us with the desires of our flesh.  He has zero power over us except given him by god or ourselves,  but he has deep knowledge of how to tempt and deceive you.  Resist with the unchanging wisdom of God.  Stand on the truth of the ages.  Resist his notions of pleasure,  self worship,  self seeking life,  and he will flee...  Leaving you peaceful and close to our creator....  Until the next time.

Conspiracies are nothing.....  We are children of the most high.  It is only our own nature that will lead us into destruction....  And Satan knows that well

We are not alone

We are not alone in the universe.  Of that we can be sure.  But our companions are not little green men with telepathic powers. Reality is not in alien spaceships  and highly advanced civilizations on far off planets.  Reality,  our reality,  is something much closer to home.

The Bible is full of supernatural events and visitors.  Angels,  demons,  beings in heaven of all different sorts.  Read     through revelation and you quickly see that God is a God of variety.  Just as there are millions of different forms of life on earth,  heaven is filled with that same variety.

Our companions in the universe are spiritual beings,  created before this particular universe was created.  They are not bound by the physical laws of our universe.   What laws they are bound with we may not know for sure,  but we can be sure they are not exactly like us.

These beings, can be divided into at least two general sets...  Good and bad.  Those that serve God and those that rebelled against him. Both sets are roaming the universe and earth.  They occasionally interact with man on various levels. 

This is separate from the souls and spirits of people who have died.  Whether those are also roaming is yet another debate not easily resolved. 

So rest assured that we are not alone,  the air is filled with beings,  some for us,  some against us.  Sometimes they influence,  sometimes control,  sometimes watch. We are never alone.

Also rest assured we are safe.  Man was given dominion over the earth.  We are in control here.  Man was further given dominion over the spirit world through Jesus name.  We can walk in his service and thereby be his proxy exercising his authority over all.  No reason for fear in our hearts.  No created being is greater than Jesus,  and we carry his authority in legitimately using his name.

So no aliens.  Not in the Hollywood sense.  But we are not alone. 

What do we deserve?

What do we deserve?  Simple.  Death.  No more.   As humans we have all sinned against God and thereby are guilty of the punishment of death.   Harsh?  No.  Simple justice.  The wages of sin are death,  we have sinned,  we are guilty. 

The push in this generation seems to be to combat that simple notion,  to convince people that they "deserve"  better,  they they should "love themselves".  But it's a lie.  While it is possible to fool yourself for a while/ few people can be so shallow as to fall for this lie for a lifetime. Sooner or later they realize that they are guilty,  they are evil,  and they can't change that.  Then depression sets in,  desperation,  suicidal thoughts.

But,  the beauty of being guilty is so much greater than the short term benefit of making yourself feel good.  The good news,  the gospel is this.  Even though we are miserably and eternally evil,  we are loved anyway just as we are.  We are guilty but Jesus stepped in and paid our guilt.  He died for us.  So we have no sentence against us.  We are free,  loved,  without having to change.  We don't have to be better!  We are loved just as we are.   That is the good news!

So...   Embrace our depravity as mankind.  Embrace our guilt,  because that opens the door to truly feeling loved,  accepted.    Don't try to be worthy,  to be good.  Instead just relax and let Jesus do what he died for...  To redeem us. 

Embracing the notion that a man can be "good"  is foolishness and leaves one empty and despairing sooner or later.

Embracing the reality of man's hopelessness brings joy unspeakable and peace.  

The choice is ours....  We have free will.  Pay for our own mistakes,  or let Jesus pay for us out of his immeasurable love for us.

Happiness vs joy

Many today seek happiness. Many say the ultimate goal of life is happiness.  Many say that only you can make yourself happy.  Many say that all they want is to be happy.  People say a lot of things....  But saying does not make it so.  All these are lies,  compromises from God's best. 

Happiness is based on happenings.  What happens to you makes you happy or sad.  Happiness is a feeling,  based on the body and soul.  Trouble is,  you are not in Control of happiness because you can not control happenings.  You can not control your own happiness,  because that would require controlling the world and how it treats you.  You can't.  Even if you could,  happiness is fleeting,  undependable,  and unsatisfying.  It is a feeling and feelings do not last.

Joy,  now that's different.  Joy is in the heart,  the spirit.  It is a state of being,  not a feeling.  It is deep,  lasting,  dependable,  solid.  Joy comes from knowing truth,  from walking in the right path.  Happenings make no difference,  they can not shake joy because joy is not based on the world,  but on your relationship to God.

Man was made for God.  Our purpose in being is to please him.  Our design is to be connected to our creator and thereby find meaning and joy.  We are complete only when walking with god on a daily basis,  and only then are we at peace. There is a hole,  an emptiness inside each of us,  deep in our hearts,  that can only be filed by God's spirit and only by invitation. We must invite him in.

Then the hole is filled,  we are complete,  we are at peace,  we find joy,  and nothing in the world can change that. Period.

Money,  sex,  popularity,  recreation,  friends,  spouse,  children,  things,  all these bring happiness for a time,  a short time,  but they can not fill that hole in our heart.  They are things of this world and can make our body and soul happy for a time.  They can not touch our heart that is reserved for our creator.

Seek joy,  enjoy happiness.  Know that happiness comes and goes over time.  Joy is constant.  Enjoy happiness when it is present,  but don't depend on it,  don't base your life on it.  Find the joy that God is waiting to bring you as a free gift from him.  Depend on that to carry you through this life and the next.  Joy...  Is the goal of life.

Do I know everything?

Of course not.

But...

I know the one who knows everything.

Grandpa used to say " it's not what you know,  it's who you know".   The notion that you must know everything yourself is a modern education notion,  and false.  Know where the answer lies and you don't need to carry it with you.  You can't.  And thats ok.

Who is the best source of answers?  Well the creator of course!  And he is just waiting to discuss the mysteries of the universe,  or the difficulties in your life.  Ask him.

Do I know everything?  Nope.  And that's perfectly ok.  Sometimes people think that I do,  or think that I think that I do.  But neither are true.  If someone asks,  then I have an answer.  Sometimes from my own accumulated knowledge,  sometimes through study,  and sometimes through direct revelation from God.  Just because I can provide an answer does not in any way mean that I "know"  everything!  What a silly notion.   But I do know the one that knows everything.  Often times I am learning as I speak.  God speaks and I listen along with the question answerer.  I do not "know"  more than them,  I am learning alongside. 

No human knows everything,  but every human can find all the answers in the creator who loves to share truth.  Ask him,  expecting an answer.  Seek him,  open up to him,  share with him,  and you can learn everything and anything.

Know the one that knows and you will never be without.

The Prophet that lives still

All religions have one or more prophets.  There is also a beginning,  an individual or individuals that start a line of thinking,  a revelation,  a new truth.  So how can you know which is really truth?

Here is a simple difference to consider....   Only one prophet still lives.

Every prophet of every religion is...  Dead.  They were men just like you and I.  They lived,  touched the world,  and died.  Gone.  Only teachings left behind.   Except one...  Jesus.  He IS alive and well as ever,  because he is God.  Death had no power over him.  He is unique.

Others may even claim that "the spirit of the Prophet has / will return"  but no..  Still different.  Jesus is alive IN THE SAME BODY HE WAS IN ORIGINALLY ON Earth.  It's not that his spirit rise,  his BODY rose.  His tomb is empty.   No one else in all of history can make that claim.  No other tomb is empty.

Jesus said himself,  he leaves only one sign that he is the true son of God....  He would die and rise again on the third day.  It is the empty tomb,  and only the empty tomb,  that validates his identity.  When looking at other religions,  other prophets,  ask to see their empty tomb. 

Jesus resurrection was witnessed by hundreds,  perhaps thousands,  soon after.  It is a validated point in history.  And it is still true today.  Jesus is alive today knocking at your door.  Whether you see him physically,  spiritually,  or any other way is up to him and you.  I can tell you that I KNOW he lives.  Zero doubt.  I have met him.   So can you.

One of the best evangelist had a unique method of introducing Jesus to another person...  His approach? 

" jimmy ,  this is Jesus.  Jesus,  meet jimmy" and he walked away.

Jesus isn't a system of rules,  teachings,  truths,  paths,  etc.  Jesus is an individual,  like you and I but also God.  He is alive,  today.  Here.  Now.   THAT is the difference,  the empty tomb.  An eternally empty tomb.