Author: chuck

Genesis
8 – 11

Today I am in a heated discussion over a YouTube video that
suggests the Bible’s rendition of creation is correct. It is actually based on
science and not the Bible being the only source of information. And how the
Fundamentalist Evolutionists cannot look at anomalies and question them. They
have to make stories that work for their assumptions of fact. Like man being
mixed with dinosaurs bones; the story goes they must have been mining and had a
tunnel collapse, even though no tools indicating that activity were found or a
shift in the strata indicating a collapse.

So we get to the great flood, which everyone dismisses as a
“story” and not fact. But one only looks at the Grand Canyon to determine that
something catastrophic happened. There are even layers which can only happen
underwater where wind, rain and temperature would change the contour. Then the
shape of the canyon indicates a quick cut and not a SLOW methodical one … this
all could be evidence of a great flood.

But don’t say that in the scientific community or you will
be labeled insane and perverse.

Something that caught my eye that interests me is verse 9:3
which may prove why the lion and the lamb lived in harmony:

Every living thing
that moves will be available to you as food. Just as I once gave you the
green plants to eat, I now give you everything.

The teeth of the lion explain how they
never could have been a herbivore, or do they? That would require a bunch of
time, but again I reference Walter Veith’s work for the technical explanation.
But suffice it to say we appear to have been herbivores before the flood.

Verse 10:8 open us to Nimrod, who is not
really explained but can be the liked to almost all the cults and satanic
influences:

Cush also fathered
Nimrod, who was the first man on earth to be known as a powerful
warrior.

Again it’s a ton of time to expand on this
thought, but TheFuelProject’s YouTube series or book “Know Your Enemy” does and
awesome job explaining the connections … in 80+ 15 minute videos on YouTube.
You can see why a few paragraphs will never scratch the surface. But through
this we see the people did not scatter and populate the earth and instead
created the Tower of Babel.

I implore you to research Nimrod and his
wife Semiramis to see how that is the root of the occult. Sure Satan’s
temptation was the start, Nimrod provided the “foundation” with the Tower.  

Romans
3 – 4

Verse 3:22 talks about who is saved by Jesus:

This redeeming
justice comes through the faithfulness of Jesus, the Anointed One, the
Liberating King, who makes salvation a reality for all who believe—without
the slightest partiality.

Think about it, throughout the OT we are
told the Jews are the “Chosen People” and therefore assume they are the only
ones going to heaven. The reason they were the “Chosen People” was because from
them would come the savior of all people. That is so awesome that all of God’s
creations are loved and not just the Jews!!

I have to say through most of this reading
today I was not focused. I kept getting lost in the wording and the history
Paul was talking about. Like when he is talking about Abraham’s faithfulness in
verse 4:19:

His faith did not
fail, although he was well aware that his impotent body, after nearly 100
years, was as good as dead and that Sarah’s womb, too, was dead.

Reason I got hung up on this is Abraham and
Sarah took matters into their own hands with Hagar to have Ismael. That was not
faithful obedience at all. His disobedience has had ramifications throughout
the ages. In this case GOD was faithful and not Abraham. God kept his promise
despite Abraham’s willful disobedience.

That is where one must be thankful God is
that way. Since we blow it often and a more “earthly” god would be spanking us
in public constantly! I am so thankful that God is more faithful than I am. He
waited for me to come back and I hope He was like the prodigal son’s father
wrapping his arms around me.

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Matthew
3 – 4

John (the Baptist) is introduced speaking a “stern but
exciting message” in the wilderness. John is ushering in the coming of Jesus.
His main message is for everyone to “repent” and prepare yourself for the
coming of the Messiah. Verse 3:2 is this message:

Repent! For the
kingdom of heaven is near.

What exactly is he saying? What do you feel
repent means? Is it just saying the prayer and living life as you did? In
verses 3:7 – 9 John rejects some Pharisees and Sadducees calling them “children
of serpents”.  Why was this? Why did John
reject them, but not others?

The key is the definition of “repent”. A
key part of the definition is often missed. We get the confess part, but not
the turn away part. To turn away from sin is to do everything to stop sinning
and turning to God. Often we miss that and continue to sin, using the excuse we
are not perfect. Tie this with the idea that we are clean on confession of sin,
you can quickly get into a quagmire of self-destruction.

Verse 3:12 states mankind will be examined:

He carries a
winnowing fork in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor; He will
gather up the good wheat in His barn, and He will burn the chaff with a fire
that cannot be put out.

Winnowing is separating the “chaff” from
the wheat. Interestingly the fork is very simple and seems to be very
indiscriminate in what is does. It’s wide and just tosses the wheat up to allow
gravity and the breeze to do the business. It’s not careful shifting through a
strainer, but just a tossing into the air and seeing how they fall.
Interestingly we ALL get tossed into the air; there is no time for a last
minute repentance.

As we get into chapter 4, it’s a similar
story of Jesus’ fast and temptation in the wilderness. After it was finished I
found verse 4:14 interesting:

He did this to
fulfill one of the prophecies of Isaiah:

He is fulfilling one of Isaiah’s prophecies
that we recently read in Isaiah 9:1 & 2, but he is purposefully doing it in
this case. Is this a fulfilled prophecy or did Jesus manipulate the result? I
am surprised the “Jesus is a story” doesn’t glom on this. Again did Jesus do this
from necessity or to do what scriptures said needed to be done. One could say
Jesus did this to ensure people understood who He was.

Isaiah
7 – 11

This is the start of Isaiah’s prophecies of Jesus, the
Messiah. Verse 7:14 is the first in Isaiah:

Suit yourself.
The Lord will give you a proof-sign anyway: See, a young maiden will conceive.
She will give birth to a son and name Him Immanuel, that is, “God with us.”

A
“young maiden” implies a virgin, but apparently is not directly translated from
the Hebrew. The Complete Jewish Bible, which is my “go to” for OT translations,
also uses “young woman” and not virgin. That may have been translated to
“virgin” in other translations to help clarify the significance (since at that
time “young maidens” were virgins). Either way Mary fits the definition of this
prophecy.

Look
at other verses within this reading and you will see many prophecies that Jesus
fulfills. Verses 9:1 & 2 are where Isaiah talks about Jesus’ Galilean
ministry. Verses 9:7, 11:1 and 11:10 all talk about Jesus being from the throne
of David. These were being told to Ahaz to ensure he understood the importance
of maintaining the throne of David. So where Isaiah’s words ring so clear
today, they were of utmost importance then. These words were not to only to
encourage us today, but were also for encouragement to King Ahaz (granted what
is happening to Ahaz is not necessarily good at the time).

Verse
10:15 reminds us that we are not the ones who get credit for anything we do:

But wow, are
they ever mistaken! Assyria seems to think it has used God.
    Can
an ax take credit instead of the one who swings it?
Is a saw better than the one who uses it?
    Only
if a club or rod can move on its own.

This is really the key when you think of
it. We are really not to take credit for anything. I just reread my blog on
Creation vs Evolution and realize that was not me. I just was the conduit to
attempt to explain where God is in play to an atheistic scientific community.
Where did we get the skills? Where did we get the words? How did things happen
the way they did? We are not in control of any of this, it’s more how we manage
what we are given is the key.

Verse 10:33 reminds us to be humble:

But wait,
look! The Lord, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, will
protect you;
    He
will cut the arrogant and self-serving down to size.
With terrifying power He will prune Assyria’s branches,
    hack
down the high and mighty, and humble all those who think they’re so great.

Remember God will do as he promises and
will always be faithful. I know when you are in the mire of life it doesn’t
make sense, but clarity always comes at the back end. That is the key to peace
and faith in God. I think of Kipling’s poem ‘If” which says “if you can keep
your head, while those around you are losing theirs.” In the poem this was the
measure of a man, while in life it’s our relationship with God. I can go on and
on about life’s little “problems” that ended up being a blessing. One is the
sale of our home in Buford. It unwound into a 6 month fiasco that was ugly and
stressful. I actually remained calm for the most part and watched things
unfold. The end we see it was actually better to delay the eventual sale since
it appears the money that we would have left would have been squandered on
improvements that may now be abandoned. Again we will see what’s on the other
end, but my faith is that God is doing great things and the end is HIS will,
not mine!!

We
are just the jackass that is giving Jesus a ride – Pastor Kevin Queen

Job
3 – 4

Imagine being in such bad shape you curse the day you were
born. Think of all Job has lost and the misery he is enduring physically, his
first words are cursing the day he was born. This idea was expanded in the movie
“The Butterfly Effect” where Ashton Kutcher’s character has the ability to go
back in time and change something, each time he does life is different but ugly
all the same, so he keeps going back and altering what happened till his final
solution is to commit suicide in the womb.

This is where Job is, wishing he could do just that. Verse
3:11 he asks the question:

Job: Why
did I not die at my birth,
        simply pass from the womb into death?

Imagine the despair to say this! He lost
everything and if it was not for him living those lives would not have been
taken or existed. I hope to never imagine the loss he has. At the same time I
cannot understand why God would have allowed this in the first place. It’s
almost like he was manipulated into this by Satan!

I love the story of Job and his
faithfulness, but at the same time have to question God on allowing Satan to do
this. Job passed the test and is “restored” with the stuff, but not with the
people. Life would never be the same without that, unless God resurrected all
Satan had killed.

Verse 4:17 asks some great questions:

    “Can a mortal stand innocent before God?
        Can a man or even a hero be pure before his Creator?”

The answer is NO to both questions and this
is where the story of Jesus is wonderful. We do not have to be perfect before
God, just redeemed by the blood of Jesus. This simple act made the afterlife
with God possible for all mankind. The biggest key to this salvation is
accepting it and trying to do good. We will never earn our way, but at the same
time we could lose it. We can look at the “once saved, always saved” doctrine
in throughout this study to determine what we need to do to protect ourselves.

Psalms
3 – 5

The Psalms are an interesting group of writings. Many of
which were written by David during his up and down life. Think about it he was
a farm hand when Nathan told him he would be king. Then he slew the giant and
became Saul’s right hand man. Then Saul went nuts and he was on the run and had
to live in caves. Then he assumed the role of king. Then he had the adulterous
affair with Bathsheba and the resulting turmoil for the rest of his life.

You can see from these Psalms how his prayers have shown
those troubles. Verse 3:1 opens after his son had taken the throne:

Eternal One, my
adversaries are many, too many to count.
    Now
they have taken a stand against me!

His back is against the wall and he is
being mocked (verse 2). But he knows that when God is for you who can be
against you. At the same time think about this battle, both believe God is on
their side. In Joshua 5 this question is asked and the response is “neither”.
In marriage this happens often, where God is petitioned by both people to
change the other one. Both believe in God, and both may be righteous in their
petition, yet the key is the heart.

If you know God is with you, who cares if
you win or lose. We see this in David when Saul and his sons attack him. He
honors God first, sure he may complain but he understands God’s ultimate power.

Verse 4:1 opens a Psalm of worship:

Answer my prayers,
O True God, the righteous, who makes me right.
    I
was hopelessly surrounded, and You rescued me.
Once again hear me; hide me in Your favor;
    bring
victory in defeat and hope in hopelessness.

I
first would like to ask a question to you. Have you ever prayed something like
this? I know I have and often the prayers seem to remain unanswered. Garth
Brooks’ line from a song comes to mind … “some of God’s greatest gifts and
unanswered prayers.”  I look at a
property “deal” we were working years ago and how it fell through. At the time
I was crushed and did not understand, but with perfect hindsight I can see that
two years later we closed the shop and that sale would have purchased a large commercial
building that would have been an anchor to the shop.

So
don’t worry if your prayer life does not always match your life, there are
reasons that you may never understand, but often become clear years or decades
later.

Verse
5:1 is one of my favorite verses because of what it is asking:

Bend Your ear to
me and listen to my words, O Eternal One;
    hear
the deep cry of my heart.

Think about what David is asking. He is asking
God to listen, assuming He does not sometimes. I like it because it shows me
the great King David has the same insecurities that I have with my relationship
with God. The funny thing is God, by his nature, is always listening. He may
just not respond as we believe he should.

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Joshua
6 – 10

This is Joshua continuing to take the Promised Land with one
of the most famous battles of Jericho. This is a classic story of the fortified
walls that came tumbling down. Interestingly, this story has been verified via
archeological digs around modern day Jericho. I often wonder if the “curse”
Joshua gave Jericho in verse 26 happened, since it was obviously rebuilt.

Verse 7:1 opens some questions on Israel’s ability to follow
directions:

But the Israelites
acted unfaithfully in one thing: they did not allow everything from Jericho
to be destroyed, as God had ordered. Achan (the son of Carmi, grandson
of Zabdi, and great-grandson of Zerah of the tribe of Judah) had carried some
things away from Jericho, so the Eternal was angry at the Israelites.

I never have gotten the “punish all for the
acts of one” logic. In this case Israel figured Ai would be a rout, but got
whooped instead. The people not only were being punished for the acts of Achan,
but also for not consulting God before attacking Ai. How many times has this
happened to us? A favorite of grade school teachers is to punish the whole
class for one fool. I know I was that “fool” more than once and my class mates
were not real happy with me, fortunately my fate was not that of Achan.

The other more “nebulous” punishment is
from not consulting God. This is something I have had problems with over the
years since I have always had a tough time differentiating between God’s voice
and my own. So when I charge into battle and fail, I wonder if it was me or it
was not God’s will. Often it’s after charging in that I ask for God’s guidance
and I still want a clear voice, but have never got it.

What we need to understand and learn is to
always consult God and if the voice is not clear consult scripture to ensure
you are doing the right thing. God will not give you a prompt that is outside
His laws. The ‘ole getting great financing or finding the one after you’re
married is just not how He rolls. If you had followed God to begin with you
would not need to finance and the “one” would have been figured out before
getting married.

Joshua continues with deceptions from their
enemies and more battles being won. Through this all the key things are when
they consult God the result is grand, when they do not it fails. I think the
key from today’s reading is to never go on our own and always consult God.
Don’t get carried away, like praying for what to eat for lunch, rather for the
important decisions.

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Genesis
4 – 7

We go from the first children of Adam to the great flood in
a few short chapters. Genesis is one of those books that everyone knows because
many of the stories told are from this book. It also provides the “set up” for
Jesus appearing some 1500 to 3000 years later. Verse 4:9 is Cain’s response
after God confronts him:

Eternal One
(to Cain):  Where’s your brother Abel?

Cain: I
have no idea. Am I supposed to be responsible for where he goes and what he
does?

Before we get into the nuts and bolts about
this, I wanted to notice how The Voice handles conversations. It’s actually
written to be performed and not just read. It helps in some ways and makes it
more difficult to read in others.

Now this verse in other translations is
well known, with Cain asking “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (NKJV). That
quote may be on the top ten list of most quoted verses in the Bible, since it
has become part of our vernacular. This version actually is clearer, but the
famous quote is gone. Cain was chastised for his offering, took offense, became
jealous of Abel’s offering and then killed him. Not even 1 generation into the
Bible and we have a murder.

So much could be said about this but I
think the key point is the “jealousy” part that caused the rage. We tend to get
messed up when we start looking at the grass on the other side of the fence.
Granted most are not driven to kill, but it can easily snowball into a very
predictable series of events to get your share.

As you read you will notice how old this
generation gets, Adam was 930 years old, Seth was 912 years old and Noah was
500 before he had his sons. Notice God realizes that with our reproductive
capacity and the resources available He needed to do something. In verse 6:3 he
“will put a limit on their lifespan of about 120 years.” Some may say
that was God’s plan to populate the earth, while I on the other hand some may
say he was correcting an “oops”. I can say either way there, but it’s something
to think about.

Now Noah and the flood is one of the more
well-known stories that is often dismissed as a tale. But as you know Noah was
told about the flood and he made an Ark to save his family and a pair of all
the animals to repopulate the earth after the waters recedes. Verse 7:17 talks
about the rain fall:

The deluge continued for 40 days on the earth.
¹⁸ The waters kept rising until they lifted up the ark so it
floated safely over the land;

Now I can take days to give the facts of
the “flood” but the easiest thing to look at is the Grand Canyon. Each of those
layers of strata you see is nice and flat with this giant river that cut it
over millions of years. Or so science says! First look at the even layers,
where do you see undisturbed even layers of sediment? Only under water do we
see this, rain and wind disturb those layers on the surface. The canyon is a
nice “V” shaped canyon, which we only see when a fast moving torrent cuts a soft
surface. Otherwise “old” canyons have more of a “U” shape with undercuts. Just
these two facts alone imply we need to relook at science and the Bible to
determine who is right and who is wrong.

Romans
1 – 2

As I read Roman’s I learn that Church and commitment were
different then. Today the idea of being challenged or corrected is missing from
many, if not most, churches today. We go in enjoy the warm up song, the
announcements, the worship set of 2 or 3 songs, the message, closing/offering
song, with payers sprinkled in during each “set” change. Most of the time we
are listening to a watered down message directed to the lowest common
denominator or unsaved individual.

Personally, I can enjoy these environments since I tend to
forget things easily. I get “moved” or “touched” by a message, go eat and
continue as normal. Rarely anything changes in my actions during the week. That
is a problem and I assume I am not the only one experiencing this. Paul in his
letter to the Church in Rome, he holds nothing back. Sure addresses the good
things they do, he is quick to point out things that need correction.

How many of us can make the statement in verse 1:16 that
Paul makes:

For I am not the
least bit embarrassed about the gospel. I won’t shy away from it,
because it is God’s power to save every person who believes: first the Jew, and
then the non-Jew.

Take note the conviction, and the key point
that he is not embarrassed. How many of us would speak boldly to a critic of
God and Jesus? How many of us could boldly profess their faith to anyone they
met? How many of us could say I love Jesus when those around them were saying
Jesus was just a fabrication by the Romans to make good taxpayers? Personally,
a co-worker, Mike K, intimidated me with his devout atheistic views. Only once
did we get into it and I had to back down quickly when the Flying Spaghetti
Monster was invoked.

Is that what Paul asks of us?? Not at all,
we should never be “embarrassed” about our views.

Verses 1:25 – 26 are telling:

²⁴ So
God gave them just what their lustful hearts desired. As a result, they
violated their bodies and invited shame into their lives. ²⁵ How?
By choosing a foolish lie over God’s truth. They gave their lives and devotion
to the creature rather than to the Creator Himself, who is blessed forever and
ever. Amen.

Why did God do this? Is what we may
perceive as God’s “blessings” really a curse? This is critical when you think
about it!! Our “lustful hearts” desire money, relationships, toys and pleasure,
so when we pray for those and get them we think God gave them to us because
they were good. Think otherwise! Maybe when we are “blessed” with that big
payout, it becomes more of a curse since suddenly the “tithe” becomes less
since they don’t “need” it or your daily devotional gets pushed away from last
night’s revelry.

Verse 1:32 give us the choice:

Despite the fact
that they are fully aware that God’s law says this way of life deserves death,
they fail to stop. And worse—they applaud others on this destructive
path

This chapter is a warning not to follow the
crowd and do God’s will. This is so hard when we are taught that Jesus
fulfilled the Law and therefore we are no longer bound by the Law. Then when we
don’t follow it we are chastised. So what is it? Honestly I can’t say with 100%
certainty on what or obligation is to the Law. My “uneducated” belief is the
parts of the Law Jesus fulfilled were the sacrificial and ceremonial parts. The
rest is still valid and we should abide by it.

Now the argument is also made that we are
not always punished for our sins, but rather by our sins. Think about it, why
would God give us our “lustful desires”? We learn from our “misteaks” and
sometimes that having the snake we are playing with bite us. We tend to want to
play with the snake again if it’s batted away from us and we get scolded. So
really think about those prayers for winning the lottery;-)

Verse 2:9 is interesting in the order of
punishment:

Suffering and pain
await everyone whose life is marked by evil living (first for the Jew, and next
for the non-Jew).

Like before in the salvation order, the
punishment is doled out the same way!! At least most of us are on the end!! I
wonder if this means the Jew, or the Jew that has accepted salvation in Jesus,
but still messes up in evil living?

Lots to think about today!! Read 2:13 on
your own and dwell on it.

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Matthew
1 – 2

Jesus By The Numbers … and a Cool Fact on the Wise Men’s Gifts

First thing I picked up in this reading was the number of
prophecies mentioned that Jesus fulfilled. If you were counting I believe it
was 6. Now if you count through the whole Old Testament there are somewhere
between 30 to 700 prophecies mentioned that Jesus fulfilled. The most accepted
number is 66, but the key is the odds. If Jesus fulfilled just 8, the odds of
this happening are 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. There are better odds of
winning the lottery than Jesus 8 of these prophecies written hundreds to
thousands of years earlier. For 1 man to fulfill 48 of these, the odds go to 1
in 10¹⁵⁷, or 1 electron in the entire universe that fulfills these
prophecies.

So by the odds one must accept Jesus is who He said He was.
I believe this is one of the reasons the “story” of Jesus is being questioned as
a fabrication. Honestly, if you think about it a story about Jesus would have
been squashed by the Jews at the time it started. The Jews do not accept him as
“the Anointed One” but that is the only “fact” they question. The Muslim’s
believe He is the Messiah just that His role in the end times is different than
what Christians believe. Since all these beliefs contradict the “New Testament”
significantly, one could argue it would have been advantageous to show the
story was a fabrication at the time it was developed, not 2000 or more years
later.

Verse 2:2 caught me with some interest based on where I have
been over the years:

Where is this
newborn, who is the King of the Jews? When we were far away in the East we saw
His star, and we have followed its glisten and gleam all this way to worship
Him.

Recently I have been studying Luciferian
cults and their beliefs, trying to understand the End Times that appear to be
unraveling before us. This caught my eye because of the “star” reference, since
Lucifer is Latin for “the Morning Star”. Its verses like this that could be how
“they” suck people into the “cult” since one could argue Lucifer was guiding
the wise men. Sorry for this tangent, but it’s my “thought” and I like to lay
it all out of what I was thinking and hold nothing back. I will find the truth
here!! It took me 10+ years to accept the “trinity” theology.

Verse 2:11 was explained exceptionally well
in the footnotes:

and as soon as the
wise men arrived, they saw Him with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and
worshiped Him. They unpacked their satchels and gave Jesus gifts of gold,
frankincense, and myrrh.

I always here about the gifts, but have
never really understand their significance. It’s more than just fancy trinkets
that these men gave Jesus. First gold represents what is given to a king,
showing Jesus IS the King of Kings. Second, the frankincense was incense that
is given to high priests, showing Jesus is the High Priest of all high priests.
Finally the myrrh ointment was used for healing, showing Jesus as the healer.
One other use of myrrh was embalming corpses showing Jesus was born to die for
our salvation.

How cool is that!!

Isaiah
1 – 6

Are We Shampooing Hair? Wash, Rinse, Repeat?

I love Isaiah like many prophetic writings in the Bible, I
wonder if they are for their time or ours. Verse 1:11 has God addressing the
people since he is angry at them turning from His ways:

Eternal One:
What do I care for all of your slaughter-gifts?
        I have had enough of your burnt offerings.
    I’m
not interested in any more ram meat or fat from your well-fed cattle.
        The blood of bulls, lambs, or goats does not please Me.

Imagine the LAW says you must sacrifice and
repent from your sins and God rejects those sacrifices. What did they do to
reject God so much? Then I read this and apply it to today’s church and nation.
I wonder if our gifts are being rejected since many give expecting greater
rewards and not out of honoring God. I know I have done this over the years
before where I give with the expectation of a greater reward, which is
justified since it will allow even more giving.

Later in verse 14 God says he “deplores”
the holidays and celebrations. As we enter the Christmas season one has to
wonder! The “holiday” was set on December 25^th to “offset” the pagan
celebrations of the time. It’s ironic that after 1400 or so years those
“celebrations” the church was trying to squash has overtaken (in a way) the
meaning of the holiday. The “ideas” are all perverted in the name of Jesus,
although the giving is around a mythical character and not the real one.

Verse 3:4 & 5 again makes this visions
look like it could apply today:

⁴ In
the chaos of their absence, I will make mere kids rule.
    Even
infants will govern them,
⁵ Leaving people to take advantage of each
other,
    making
their lives miserable.
Youngsters will terrorize the elderly,
    and
the most despicable will bully the upstanding.

Many parts of this nation are overrun by
gangs that terrorize the neighbors and we have allowed a group of “minors” rule
by their law and not God’s. We cower as those who “protect” us do little to
nothing to reign in these thugs. Along with this our ability to defend
ourselves is being choked. So the big question is when does this prophecy
apply?

Funny how our leaders, although legally adults all seem to
act like “infants” when they don’t get their way!

Verse 5:10 again points to today and not just another time:

Huge
investments in 10-acre vineyards
        will yield tiny dividends, mere gallons of wine.
    Prime
property planted with plenty of seed
        will grow a nearly worthless amount of grain.

The “banksters” today are hoarding
everything and not “spreading” the wealth. Sure one could argue for them that
this is acceptable, but at the same time morals are not involved. Think about
it, it’s all about the dollar and not the society. We have destroyed our nation
by looting it and removing all the income producing opportunities. Think about
it … you design a widget to compete against Apple’s iPad. You cannot build it
here and compete. That’s what I am talking about; we have allowed the morals of
the dollar take over basic fiscal morality.

I read these and look at history and see
how society after society follow these same footsteps and wonder if we are
“hardwired” to do this. Does Satan work his magic on all societies or do we
just keep doing it to ourselves? Many argue we have evolved over medieval
times, but really all that has evolved is technologies. We have the same innate
drive for power, control and pleasure. That is what God says we need to control
or society melts down, as it has over and over again throughout history.

Verse 6:9 is a response I would love, but terrifies me at
the same time:

Then I heard the
Lord’s voice.

Eternal One:
Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?

Isaiah:
Here I am! Send me.

Knowing the stories of those who have been sent,
would you jump up? Think about it, really think about it. Moses did amazing
things, but never stepped foot in the Promised Land. Samson died in the rubble.
Of the 12 disciples, all but John were martyred. So before jumping up to be
sent, think of the consequences. I know we a say we would jump, but define what
that means and your answer may change.

8G��5z

Job
1 – 2

Job’s Struggles and Why! No Really WHY!?!?

Job is one of those books I love to read, the story is
amazing, but at the same time I don’t get why God allowed Satan to do that to
Job. Verse 1:1 shows the type of man Job was:

Once there was a
man from Uz by the name of Job. He was a very good man—his character
spotless, his integrity unquestioned. In fact, he so believed in God that he
sought to honor Him in all things. He deliberately avoided evil in
all of his affairs.

This is something I wish could be said
about me, but sadly know it cannot fully. I “try” but fall short in so many
things. I get “lazy” often and do not honor God in hard work. I believe this is
common for many, since the world’s distractions lead us to missing the mark on
work output. I can’t say how many times I would get trapped on the iPhone or
see others on theirs during the day.

As you can see the world has become
technologically more advanced, but that has made it easier for most to sin.
Porn I think is the biggest winner in this new world. What use to require a
trip to the seedy part of town to a very questionable business to either watch
porn or purchase videos or magazines. Today it’s as easy as a click on the
internet to get the vilest pornography delivered to you connected device. The
easiest thing to do is what Job did and AVOID evil and not try to “dance” with
it!!

In Job 1:10 the Accuser (note this translation is not Satan) makes a claim on
Job’s character:

Haven’t You
encircled him with Your very own protection, and not only him but his
entire household and all that he has? Not only this, but Your blessing
accompanies whatever his hand touches, and see how his possessions have grown. It
is easy to be so pious in the face of such prosperity.

Notice
how he says how easy it is to be “pious” in the face of danger, where this is
not the real condition of Job’s heart. This accusation was continued to be made
at Job and God just let the accuser continue to hammer on Job. That is what I
do not get!!

Verse
1:18 has the fourth messenger reveal his family is lost in rapid secession like
the previous 3:

And while the
words were still leaving that messenger’s mouth, yet a fourth
messenger arrived.

His livestock can be replaced, but his
children cannot. That is the most bothersome thing about this story. I continue
to go back to this calamity and question why God would allow this, it’s not
like they can ever be replaced.

Finally many argue Job’s friends were
questionable, but honestly how many would do what his did in verse 2:13?

Then, they sat
with him on the ground and stayed there with him for seven days and seven
nights, mourning as if he were already dead. All the while no one spoke
a single word because they saw his profound agony and grief.

Seven
days they sat and really said nothing, but were there for him. Sure we have
family that may do that, but how many close friends would? I would have a hard
time doing this with work and family obligations. I think the best I have done
are a few hours each day for a friend.

This story again
shows how much simpler this time was since that was something that people did.
Sometimes we hear of “cataclysmic” solar flares that wipe out communications
and electronics that would usher in the end times. I often wonder if that’s not
ushering in Paradise?? Think about it!!

Psalms
1 – 2

“Blessing” … “Prosperity” … and OUR Nation Today.

Psalm 1:1 opens with an important message to everyone:

God’s
blessings follow you and await you at every turn:
    when
you don’t follow the advice of those who delight in wicked schemes,
When you avoid sin’s highway,
    when
judgment and sarcasm beckon you, but you refuse.

Unfortunately in today’s world we define
“blessing” different than what God may have in mind. Today we define “blessing”
as prosperity and maybe health, but mostly a fat payday. We have gotten sucked
into the Prosperity Gospel where if we “give it all” we will be “rewarded”
beyond our imagination. Matthew 21:22 says we will get whatever we ask in
Jesus’ name and that gets taken out of context often.

Sure the story in Matthew 19, Mark 10 and
Luke 18 tells the story of a rich man not “letting go” of his riches. Is this a
story about money being evil or that we should give everything? One sermon I
heard suggested the “unwritten story” story of this was how much God would have
blessed him if the rich man would have let everything go.  We need to accept the “blessing” if it comes
to us as a massive windfall or a layoff that will allow one to get caught up.
The key understand what a blessing may be, is understanding that initially the
blessing may seem like a crisis.

Psalm 2:1 made me think of the USA today:

You are
wondering: What has provoked the nations to embrace anger and chaos?

    Why
are the people making plans to pursue their own vacant and empty greatness?

Have we embraced anger and chaos in this
nation today? People today are definitely pursuing their vacant and empty
greatness in riches and “blessings”. More and more we are pursuing selfish
desires and not God. Maybe these two Psalms are telling us something that we
should change our direction quickly? I know I get caught up in the more and the
“blessings” that God will provide while not be content with what is happening
now. I know I lose focus on God when I get in this mode. I am in my third
“blessed” layoff and am trying to determine if I understand why this is
happening. Maybe I need to remain focused on God AND focus on my job. I need to
stay away from distractions and keep focus on everything in my life and ensure
the focus remains Godly.

Finally, is Psalm 2:12 talking about Jesus
or some other “son” of God:

Bow down before
God’s son.
    If
you don’t, you will face His anger and retribution,
And you won’t stand a chance.
    For
it doesn’t take long to kindle royal wrath,

But blessings
await all who trust in Him.
    They
will find God a gentle refuge.

God is asking us to bow before Jesus BEFORE
Jesus walked the earth. Jesus’ existed before with God, since he is God and
therefore we always should honor him. The “trinity” is difficult to understand
in the “physical” world we live in, but when you study the QUANTUM world it
becomes inherently obvious. If we understand God as “energy” and not an old guy
in the clouds, this all becomes easy to understand. To really delve into this
it would require a book, so stay tuned;-)

Joshua
1 – 5

We are Reminded To Read Our Bibles ALWAYS!!

Joshua 1:8 reminds us of something we often forget:

Let the words
from the book of the law be always on your lips. Meditate on them day and
night so that you may be careful to live by all that is written in it. If you
do, as you make your way through this world, you will prosper and always
find success.

I sure did, after being away for 6 months;
this was a powerful reminder in my diligent study of the word. Sure I’d pick up
the Bible from time to time, but honestly did not do it more than a few times.
My “excuse” was I wanted to get a new version and was waiting for it to be on
sale. In reality I was just being a cheapskate and lazy. I saw it multiple
times in the store, just was not parting with my money. Ironically a few days
after buying it I was laid off, so in a real time of need I got the book I
needed most.

Joshua assumed leadership of the nation of
Israel after Moses’ death and immediately knows the importance of keeping in
God’s word. There are a few I know who have read the entire Bible over 7 times,
and keep finding new stuff. I can say the few reads I have done, new things
keep popping up and I get reminded of things I forgot. They key to living in
His promise is to just keep reading and living by the word each and EVERY day.
It was something I forgot, but am slapped upside my head once again.

Chapter 2 describes the story of Rahab, the
prostitute and her lying in verse 2:6:

She was lying,
because the two men lay where she had hidden them beneath the stalks of flax
laid out on her roof.

I have read this story over and over
without question until this last time. This is one of the most famous Jewish
stories where a person of questionable past is used for good. But this time it
bothered me that this story is exalted, but is in direct violation of the 9^th
commandment. Is this God’s way of saying it is ok to “bear false witness” in
some circumstances? I have studied many “cults” that claim Christ and the way
they get around this is by justifying “the ends justify the means” and cover
themselves by muttering it’s a lie or the truth without anyone hearing.

“Honesty is the best policy” but in this
time was the lie needed? Would Jericho had fallen without the scouts or the lie
to protect them? Yes it would have, that is the key! “God’s will” shall be done
no matter how much we mess it up.

One quick translation note I have not
followed up on in verse 3:6:

Joshua told the
priests from the tribe of Levi to pick up the covenant chest and to walk
in front of the people, so the priests lifted the chest and carried it to the
front of the procession.

The “covenant chest” is more commonly referred
to as the “Ark of the Covenant” in most other translations. I will put this on
my radar, but have not found the reason it was translated this way. I do note
Noah’s Ark is translated in the Voice as Ark, so word study time will have to
happen. We will have plenty of time to get to the reason.

Genesis
1 – 3

Creation to the Fall in Three Short Chapters

Genesis 1:1 has to be considered the most important verse in
the Bible today:

In the beginning, God created everything: the heavens above and the earth below. Here’s what happened:

The
key to the Bible is here, since if you have a tough time believing “God created
everything” then the rest of this book is more a story with good morals. Think
about how significant that statement is and how faith in this is critical. I
could spend hours upon hours discussing the scientific aspects of how Genesis 1
can be proven as true, but will save space by suggesting you search “Walter
Veith” for a clear scientific explanation on this subject. The key is faith and
belief that Genesis 1 is true and not allow the atheists/ Satanist to sway you
into thinking otherwise.

Genesis
1:26 mentions man’s rule of the species:

Now let Us
conceive a new creation—humanity—made in Our image, fashioned
according to Our likeness. And let Us grant them authority over all the
earth—the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, the domesticated animals
and the small creeping creatures on the earth.

Notice how God has given us rule over the
domesticated animals and small creeping creatures but not the wild animals
described in verse 24. That makes one understand more fully why it is almost
impossible to tame a wild beast today, the Bible is clear we do not have
dominion over them. Notice how in verse 30 all the creatures from verse 24 are
mentioned:

As for all the wild animals, the birds in
the sky, and every small
creeping creature—everything that breathes the breath of life—I have given them
every green plant for food.

Also notice how everyone was vegan!! There
was no consumption of flesh, even by the wild animals. This may be why the lion
and the lamb could hang together without one becoming a snack.

On day 6 God created mankind, but did not
detail Adam and Eve until chapter 2. Why was this. Also, where did Cain and
Abel get their wives? These are big questions that are difficult to explain.
Many believe that Cain married his sister while others believe they were there
with them. I tend to fall on the side that humankind was created, and that Adam
and Eve were created to head the “Chosen People”. So where most believe Adam
and Eve are the head of ALL mankind, one might suggest that they are just the
head of the Jewish people through which the Messiah was to come.

Verse 3:12 is the start of the blame game:

It was she! The woman You gave me as
a companion put the fruit in my hands, and I ate it.

And then it continues where no one can take
responsibility. It’s ALWAYS someone else’s fault. The last president I knew
that really lived by that was Truman, who said “the buck stops here” when it
came to responsibility. I wish the most recent bunch of occupants of the White
House were as honorable. I think the most IMPORTANT thing to take from these
chapters is this lesson! When you mess up, take responsibility and your
punishment will be less. 1 John 1:9 gives us the ability to “own it” and
confess to God.  Continue to do this to
hold your salvation true.

Elections 2016 – WWJD??

Wow, this election cycle is nuts, so much so I have broken
my social media hiatus (which if you have watched closely has had a few prayer
requests and props of my children). As we approach November 8, 2016 we have
been left with some of the most questionable candidates in history. None look
good! Let us get the flaws out there. Trump is egotistical and braggadocios,
Clinton is two faced, Johnson is a deer in the headlights and Dr. Stein is not
on all ballots. Now that this is out the last presidential candidate I was
excited about was John Huntsman, because he was an experienced politician and
diplomat yet not an insider, plus he has been the ONLY presidential candidate
who has opened their campaign ripping through the desert on a CRF450!!! Also,
this may be the first election in 20 years I will vote for a major party
candidate.

 I digress, in our current cycle we had to look at the
candidates as who would be the most Godly one to lead our country, with that
IMHO John Kasich was the only one whose fruits qualified. Since he failed, who
is next? No one really got me excited other than Bernie Sanders and Trump and
as the primaries wore on I thought a Trump/Sanders ticket would be the best. I
hope this shows I am not a dogmatic in my political leanings. I believe the
problem is money in the game and both seem to address the problem.

 So here we are and I am shocked at the propaganda machine
that is working, on both sides. The Dems are controlling the game while the
Republican are ignored or are not fighting (I will tell you my theory later).
Case in point is the allegations of improper talk verse the daily drip from
WikiLeaks. Look how both are covered. One is showing what we knew, Trump is
rude, crude and obnoxious while the other is showing on a daily basis criminal activities.
While the press mocks Trump for saying “Hillary for Prison” and “Lock her up”
they are ignoring the droves of emails showing these statements are true.

 The press is concerned Trump’s rhetoric could jeopardize the
election’s validity:

 POLITICAL STORY

 Yet ignore the
documented manipulation of the press and electorate during the primary of HRC.
Brenie was right and as WikiLeaks and Anonymous has shown, HRC bought his
silence.

 The LEFT is revolting also, BUT YOU DON’T HERE THIS. Check
out HA Goodman’s YouTube channel:

CLICK HERE FOR HA GOODMAN

 He spot on with covering the WikiLeaks daily dump! Also, HE
and Jill Stein BOTH say Trump would be far less “dangerous” than Clinton!! Both
know Bernie would have been president if he had been selected!!

 So here we are in 2016 facing the two most questionable
candidates in HISTORY. Now who to pick? I say don’t let the mainstream media
rule your choice, look to alternative media like

Project Veritas (whose undercover work on the DNC election
fraud is amazing), RT, We Are Change, HA Goodman,
comedy like Redacted Tonight (Lee Camp), philosophy host Stefan Molyneux, Alex
Jones and Infowars as a brief list.

 Now two speculations that are not getting traction, Tim
Kaine and Billy Bush. Tim Caine was the DNC Chair who stepped down for Clinton’s
personal friend Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. WikiLeaks shows he was chosen as the
VP pick in late 2015!! Something IS fishy. Also, the Trump sex talk tapes had
Billy Bush, GHW Bush’s nephew and GW’s cousin. Seems fishy that this release
came from Dems and NOT Republican who were mad at the anointed one Jeb not
getting the nod.

 See the rabbit trail! I am not going to say who Jesus would
vote for, I have no idea and to say so would be horribly arrogant. What I do
know is don’t be deceived, stop watching the main stream media (including FOX
NEWS) and actually do your job as a registered voter. Who cares that HRC could
be the first woman president, heck Victoria Woodhull could have done it back in
1872. Also, Dr Jill Stein is more qualified and not a crook like HRC. Even with
her far left leaning stances she says Trump would be better than HRC!!

 All I hope is God still blesses America, because we have
turned our backs on Him as a nation. I expect a time of punishment, greater
than in the 10’s or 30’s and I suspect it will he HRC leading us into
destruction.

Ok just a short comment on the current mess we see today, the 2016 election cycle. First, voting the lesser of two evils is still evil, therefore consider one of the other two; Jill Stein (Green Party) or Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party – Which I believe 90% of the nation is really here but just don’t know it).

Now we have had 2 successful Democratic Presidents with Clinton and Obama. Ask yourself why? Why does this narrative not match the Republican rhetoric?

I remember the first two years of both Presidents. They FREAKED out the USA so much that they voted in a Republican congress to counteract their policies. Clinton was far more successful than Obama because HE worked WITH the congress where Obama fought them.

HillaryCare was the reason for this and it never went for a vote. ObamaCare OTOH was voted in during the LAME-DUCK session. 

THINK before voting … I don’t believe any will ruin the country, but I do think Hillary will be a failure that will cause more problems. Research the protests at the DNC and the potential Election Fraud. Something is very wrong.

Remember God is always in control and God gave Israel Nebuchadnezzar for their failure to follow His Word. Maybe a nation that was founded by followers of Jesus and blessed for 240 years is showing signs of needing correction. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsWGdPBbsI0

This is a question to any who wish to expand their relationship with Jesus. But is it OK to sin? Unintentionally or with for knowledge? Does Jesus tell more than one to sin no more, then is it OK?

Is our path easy or hard according to scripture?

I have been mining some more and still am not rich, but am
having fun and finding “a little bit of color” here and there. Sometimes though
I may work for days running my highbanker (a sluice box that is fed by a pump
and a dredge or shovel), you toil and work for hours before the “clean out”
when you finally get to see what you found. Often you break thinks down and
clean up your mats and pan the “concentrates” or what’s left in the box out and
nothing shows up.

What a bummer to work so hard to find nothing. Has that ever
happened to you during life’s experiences? Boy I could go through a bunch of
them and with hindsight I know that God has been in control the whole time.
Matthew 7:24 – 27 should give us the “foundation” to trust God:

²⁴ Therefore
whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto
a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: ²⁵ And
the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that
house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. ²⁶ And
every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be
likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: ²⁷ And
the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that
house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

If we have a foundation in God and his word we would know
our life is in God’s hands. Sure life may throw us some curves, but often the
end up in a better place. I think of 2007 when we had a huge debt, a struggling
business and looking at bankruptcy. Along came a developer who wanted our land
and the deal would give us enough to clear the debt, prop up the business and
give us a down-payment for the building we were in. As saw God working we were
excited. Then the planning meeting and it all unraveled, we were back in the
hole. How could God have done this to us?

Hindsight being 20/20 we now know some 8 years later. It
taught us to control debt and pay what we had down. It made us realize our
assets were enough to keep us out of taking the easy way out through bankruptcy.
It had us dissolve the business and thankful we do not own 123 W. Main (our
business home). After 8 years we are debt free, in a beautiful home and
enjoying life. Sure life is not rosy, we have our daily headaches. We have to
work hard to keep the home as expected, since it has some major issues. But no
longer are we panicked, but faithfully going with the flow.

So while your clean-out may not pan out as desired, often
time that is teaching you something that will benefit you in the long run!!

WORKING IN THE BOOK OF ENOCH

Verse 11:1 caught my attention since work will still be a
standard in paradise:

And in those days I will open the
store chambers of blessing which are in the heaven, so as to send them down ⌈upon
the earth⌉ over the work and labour of the children of men. 

Before taking my word as gospel realize this is my first
read. I read verse 14:13 talks about what seems to be hell and I interpreted as
such:

And I entered into that house, and
it was hot as fire and cold as ice: there were no delights of life therein:
fear covered me, and trembling got hold upon me

Then as I went further I found it was before God. So again,
one needs to read for themselves and understand this jumps back and forth
between Enoch’s present, past and future.

Now back to the work ethic from 11:1. God does not intend
for us to reside in heaven and just hang out, listening to the Holy Hosts sing
glorious tunes while we sip wine under a willow tree. I seems to me that we
still will labor for our rewards and that is fine. I have had two long
stretches of “unemployment” where both instances I worked harder than I ever
did “employed”. Just because we need to labor, does not mean it’s bad or a
punishment.

Work is good and healthy. The idea we need to “retire” and
live out our days on a golf course, while seemingly ideal ends up causing more
problems that a life a labor. My father is 83 and is vibrant and working still.
He came to visit and put one of our paid workers to shame by how long he worked
in the hot sun. It’s nice to relax from time to time, but the idea of living to
relax is foolish and not of God.

So take joy in the idea that we will be recognized by God
for the work we do!!

Verse 10:12 talks about the time when “the Watchers” will be
released:

 And when their sons have
slain one another, and they have seen the destruction of their beloved ones,
bind them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the
earth, till the day of their judgement and of their consummation, till the
judgement that is for ever and ever is consummated.

Now as you read this from the last reading we see events
that may have led to the flood, including fallen angels and cross breeding with
man. When you get into the whole flood story, our version just says the world
became depraved and has most of us thinking how can it be worse than today.
Well if you consider a half-breed angel and man with evil intentions added into
the mix, then you may well understand the war God was fighting then.

This verse had me question what is a generation in this
context. In Psalm 90:10 the “generation” is defined as 70 to 80 years. So from
3000BC using this rough estimate we find the sentence is up between 1900 and
2600AD. So assuming this is “inspired” scripture we should be expecting this “end”
sometime.

Now with most “end-time prophecies” we need to be aware of
them, but not focused on them. Otherwise we may lose our focus on God. If you
have followed this blog for any length, you know I have been focused on this
through periods of my life. To me much of the conspiracy theories have been
proven real and many point to the “end”.

I wonder if Enoch was not included in the “canon” because of
this dual writing and how it goes so far into the future. Also, to many it
would seem farfetched to have angels mate with man to create giants. But legends
have tales of giants, dragons and many other creatures, maybe these were real?
Think about our fossil record and how this could be true!

Think about it, could a Neanderthal or Cro Magnon “man”
be a fossil of one of these creatures? Also, was “Semjâzâ” another name for
Satan? Also why are there so many names for this one? Is there only one or are
there many? Or is this a translation issue where Lucifer is Latin for the Light
Bearer and has somehow become the proper name for Satan?

Did you ever wonder why a hearty bacon and eggs breakfast is
the staple of American meals today? In the 1950’s Edward Bernays was hired by
Beech-Nut to sell more bacon. He did not create some flashy slogan or cute 30
second ad. No he gave a carefully worded survey to 5000 doctors who all agreed
that a hearty breakfast, specifically with bacon and eggs was a better than a
light one which was the norm of the time. So within a short time this became
news, and Beech-Nut was already prepared to take advantage of this “news”
because they were the ones who “created” it.

Seems very covert when you think about it, but “public
relations” or “propaganda” has been used since the early 1900’s when Bernays,
interestingly the nephew of Sigmund Freud, perfected this industry. Today the
word “propaganda” has become a tool of propaganda since that word is associated
with Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. So it has become the subliminal “Goodwin’s
Law” (an internet law that says a debate will eventually break down into
someone calling the other a Nazi or Hitler) when pointed out in a discussion.
People will defend their position on saying “do you think I am trying to kill
millions of Jews?”

Anyway, in my life of debating I notice how this is used
over and over again. Look at Global Warming and how the debate evolved. The
supporters said ALL scientists agree that Global Warming is happening. Then temperatures
changed to a cooler period and scientist were coming out saying the climate is
cooling. I remember in the 1970’s when we had some brutally cold winters and
the “climate scientist” were claiming we were headed into an ice age, then 20
years later Al Gore was showing the “hockey stick” saying temperatures were
headed north and fast.

The lobby for global warming was the anti-pollution group
who has also been over-run by anti-capitalists and they had to keep changing their
tune. So propaganda was used, first with “testimonials” of scientists. Since
they now had scientists saying that global warming was not true, they changed
it to climate change and carefully scripted the tune that climate changes due
to pollution. With “transfer” anyone who was denying this were “flat earthers”
or science deniers, basically hicks from the back woods, no matter how logical
the argument was against climate change. They also used “bandwagon” where “everyone
agrees” therefore if you do not you are going to be responsible at killing off
the human race. See how it works.

You can go on the other side and see the same tactics used.
No one looks at the logical solution since pollution is bad and we need to get
off of relying on petro and coal for energy and production. But that does not
mean stop it, but rather work to clean things up! We should have a “Skunk Works”
project on this today if it is truly that important!

I have also seen this tied into the debate of Evolution. “Testimonials”
are used saying NO scientist denies evolution, which is true. There is no
denying evolution happens but to the extent Darwin suggested in the Origin of
Species is where a debate happens. Notice scientists like Walter Veith who is a
biologist AND a creationists is ignored and pastors like Ray Comfort are shown
at how nutty they are. “Transfer” occurs no matter how logical Ray’s arguments
may be and they show his foolish ones like “it’s only a theory” one. In science
“only” a theory is as close to TRUTH as one can be next to a LAW. The common
persons definition of a theory is a scientific definition of a hypothesis. Then
“bandwagon” is used when religious figures say evolution is true, so if science
AND religion says it’s true than therefore it is.

The key here is DON’T be fooled and think for
yourself. Listen to ALL sides and don’t get caught in the propaganda that WILL
be used by BOTH sides in the argument. Ask yourself, how did smoking become a
woman’s right thing? Edward Bernays and Lucky Strike!!

Chapter 5:8 tells me a lot about how the world should work:

 And then there shall be
bestowed upon the elect wisdom,
And they shall all live and never again sin,
Either through ungodliness or through pride:
But they who are wise shall be humble.

Enoch is having a vision about end times and those who
remain. We see the wisest are humble. We also see this through much of the
teachings of Jesus, where pride is the problem with most sin. I believe most of
us can look back into our conflicts and pride will have surfaced.

I think of arguments Katy and I both have, when you get to
the root our opinion is more important as being accepted than what is right.
And often we are on two different levels of trying to win which causes even more
problems. And often since we both tend to keep talking and turn away such that
the other cannot hear, our words are not heard and that gets us mad. Because
how could they not care to listen to the important things I have to say,
therefore pride sinks in and reality is dismissed.

I look at how I debate Evolution vs Creationism with others.
Both of these communities are prideful and believe they have the answer on
something that may never be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Who really knows
what happened billions of years ago or even 10,000 years ago. All we have are fossils
and a story that may or may not be right. And note BOTH stories can be told
using the same data and both can be intertwined. When I get deep into a debate,
winning becomes more important than changing hearts.

If you think about it pride has caused most wars in this
world when you boil down to the root. Pride is the root for most sins. This is
why we must WORK on being humble since pride is a more natural “state” for humans.
Think about it, why would I be wrong? School attempts to correct this but most
often just strengthens it by exalting individuals for their smarts, athletic
prowess or beauty thus feeding pride and envy.

As I read this, since this is not a book in the current
version of the Bible, I wondered who Enoch was. We know he was taken by God and
was Adam’s grandson but as I researched I found another Enoch. Genesis 4:17 –
18 has Cain’s son Enoch who bore a son Irad. Then in Genesis 5:18 – 25 we see
another Enoch who was taken by God. This is the one who I believe wrote this
book. The reference to Enoch’s not dying is from verse 24 that simply says “for
God took him” implying Enoch never saw death.

This is another one of those stories that may have been
overly embellished in Hebrews 11:5 as “took” him becomes he did not die.
Hopefully this will be explained more in this book since I don’t see where
Enoch never died based on scripture. This may have been one of those stories
from the Jewish text that intellectuals of the day took and over stated. I don’t
know since all I have to go on is what was written, and what I have read is he
was taken by God and then some 2000 years later someone wrote he never died.

Today I was thinking about mining again. One thing that we
do to limit the amount of material we “process” is “classify” the gravel. This
is done with water, a bucket and a “classifying” mesh. The mesh looks like a
gold pan with holes in it and fits into a 5 gallon bucket. You dump a shovel of
gravel into the mesh and shake it, kind of like a steering wheel on a bus and
is affectionately known as “driving the bus” in some circles.

Anyway the idea is get the fine gravels into the bucket and
the large rocks get tossed out. The reason you do this is most “placer” gold
has been eroded off the mountain and has been crushed and made into fine
material. Because of this you don’t need to deal with the big rocks, panning
them out only consumes time. But one thing has always bothered me about this,
what if you have a large nugget that does not pass through the mesh?

As I think of this I also was thinking about the Parable of
the Wheat and Tares in Matthew 13:24-30 where the enemy comes in and tosses
weeds into the crop of wheat that was just planted. The servant asks if he
should go pull weeds and is told by the master to let them grow and “classify”
them at harvest so not to pull out good wheat.

This makes sense and is much like what we do when
classifying gravels to get down to where the gold will be, but at the same time
when we are focused on sifting out the junk are we missing a nugget? This is
why the master did not have them pull the weeds early on, otherwise they may
get some good stuff.

Right now I am trying to tie the two analogies together and
am having a difficult time. Both are “classifying” bad material for good, but
my mining is dealing with something that could contain good, while the mature
weeds contain no good. Guess the point is with the younger weeds not being
pulled to save the good is a point, but the odds of getting a nugget is most of
the time not worth the time sifting for hours through half in or larger rocks.
The odds are such that it is most likely not there, hence why we “classify”.

In writing this the one concern I have with the master
letting the weeds grow is from another parable of the seeds sown, found just
before this in Matthew 13:1 – 23. Could these seeds be the same as the ones
thrown around the thorns where the enemy chokes them out? Or since they were
planted in a field of mature thorns the had no hope? Also, does that mean the
weeds planted with the wheat are doomed or might they become wheat some time?

Based on the failure of Alchemy to produce gold I wonder if making
wheat from a weed is possible. But with GOD anything IS possible!!

Been thinking about business and how God works within them.
The first interview I watched was with John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods (link
below):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=share&v=_rYPp4ofXAs&app=desktop

The first thing that caught me was how much of their market
is exactly the market he mentioned. He also indirectly goes into details on why
there are perceived difficulties in the free market capitalism. It all boils
down to envy!! And what does the last commandment say?

On all ends of capitalism, coveting creeps in either on the
side of the consumer or the other businesses. Where capitalism has failed today
is big business has started to control the market via government regulations to
block entry into the market. This is from envy of their position of power and
wanting to block anyone from competing.

As Mr. Mackay notes the intellectuals block the market and
manipulate it to control the power and money the CEO’s make. This blocks entry
into the market through creating road blocks that help the consumer or the
employee. What is missed is a true free market will always reign supreme if God
is followed and covetness is forced out.

I believe the most misrepresented “monopolist” is John D. Rockefeller
whose personal life was never mentioned. Only thing we are taught was that he
was a greedy capitalist who monopolized gas. We were not taught that he was a
Christian or that he was one of the greatest philanthropist in history. Watch
the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYqrFBm7qdA

You will see that Mr. Rockefeller gave over half his
billions away. He started young giving and continued. His model was Jesus’
teaching from Matthew 13:12 that more given the more abundance one shall have.
Mr. Rockefeller lived that. He became a monopoly not because he horded it all,
but rather gave to the station owners and employees. He gave the consumer an
inexpensive product with vast distribution. He gave back to the community in
abundance. God rewarded him with more.

Envy destroyed this legacy and attempted to dismantle
his business. Not saying there were not problems with Standard Oil and how they
conducted business. But because of a distorted intellectual view based on envy,
all the GOOD Mr. Rockefeller did was for the most lost in history.

A friend recently wrote about leadership and used being a captain
and the pressures they are under to make high speed decisions. Although my
father was a sailor in his youth we spent little time on a boat, so that
analogy was understood but did not sink in. When I reflected on what my father
did for a living being a fighter pilot I understood his analogy more. Also,
since I have flown private planes before I can understand his references more.

The first thing he told me about flying is it is hours of
sheer boredom, interspersed with seconds of sheer terror. I understood this
because of my first solo cross country. My instructor had me fly into
Sacramento Metropolitan which had two runways with some separation between
them. Well I contacted the airport and the directed me to land 34L, so I lined up
on what I though was 34L and started my final. Within seconds I was being
yelled at by traffic control to bank left. When I did I noticed out of my right
window a large jet climbing towards me.

I had lined up on 34R’s taxiway and not 34L. Once I got the
runways straight I lined up for my approach, now I did mention the jet was
climbing towards me. This meant the wind was opposite of my landing direction.
So terror two happened, I was doing a downwind landing. I had never done this
before and was glad it was a commercial strip since my air speed was correct, I
did not understand what a ground speed of 30 or so MPH faster would be like. I
bounced the plane on the runway and powered out of it, doing my touch and go as
required by my instructor.

So in a very short time I almost met my maker twice. If I
had frozen, who knows what would have happened. Instead I had to make a quick
decision and act upon it to save me and my aircraft. Now there are two lessons
to learn here, one is not to panic and deal with problems as they come. Panic
locks up one’s ability to respond and will result in disaster.

The other lesson is experience! Unfortunately experience
comes from surviving mistakes and learning from them. I always used to joke
that I would rather learn from your mistakes than mine. That is actually quite
true, we need to listen to the “salty dog’s” stories and learn from them.
Another saying “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
from George Santayana links this to life and the Bible.

You see we have a history book in the Bible, just
about every story known to man can be linked to this book in one way or
another. As I have read though it I could see many of Shakespeare’s works with
different names and realize that we need to learn history because it repeats
otherwise!! Just look at fidelity in marriages to see this, not one man in an
adulterous relationship held the Bible’s stories to heart. If they had, they
would not have wandered no matter how awful they felt their marriage was.
Instead they would have learned how to mend and serve through all strife. So
read your Bible and LEARN!

Jude verses 14 & 15 has a quandary that is not easily
explained:

¹⁴ And Enoch
also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord
cometh with ten thousands of his saints, ¹⁵ To execute
judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their
ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches
which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

It’s not that Jude is quoting something way outside the
ordinary or something that is not explained in scripture often, especially in
Revelations, but rather the source of this quote. It is nowhere in the current
version of our Bible. It is not in the current version of the Jewish writings.
So where did it come from?

Without going too much into the history but it is included
in a group of books called the Aprocrypha of the Old Testament. It was included
in the 1560 Geneva Bible and in the 1611 KJV, but eventually was omitted. The
reasons for omitting these sections are many, but many justifications have
holes. The biggest key to look at The Book of Enoch is this passage and another
reference in 2 Peter which alludes to this book.

The negative with researching these texts is there are
almost no modern translations available today, so one has to struggle through
the old English to understand what is being said. To those who think I am being
a heretic researching this, I assume I will be able to discern through the Holy
Spirit. So in the next few days, watch for this exploration!

I am planning to look at Enoch first and then the Wisdom of
Solomon. If I can get something from these then I will expand my reading!

Ever compared business that you go into? Notice how some
seem very efficient while others seem to just exist. Also, notice where you get
the best service and where you get awful service. If you look closely you will
notice that often the business that is over and above customer service, the owner
is close by or you are actually dealing with the owner.

I have seen the culture at some big box stores that are
amazing. The Grants Pass Home Depot is a perfect example of awesome customer
service. The owner of Home Depot is nowhere close to GP, OR, but the managers
and employees have created a very helpful environment and makes it a great
place to shop. I know near the end of owning our shop it was not a great
experience for customers, we were burnt out and tired. I have been into a few
bicycle shops and seen the same thing, one here in Grants Pass just closed a
few months after talking with the owner.

In a way when you own something you do what it takes to make
it succeed. On the other hand when you are an employee your focus is often
outside your job, sure you may want to do what it takes to advance your
position but in the end outside forces will be factors more than owners. This
is especially true with minimum wage jobs, which is why the GP Home Depot is a
standout.

What does the Bible say about our labors? 1 Corinthians
10:31 talks about how we conduct our lives:

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink,
or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

So they are not saying do your best as the owner or
when it is profitable for you or even when it’s in service for God, but rather
always do your best to the glory of God!

Brene Brown has a video out on blame. It is funny but so
true, click the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZWf2_2L2v8

It is funny how easy we get into blaming others for our
problems. We see it today with the nut job who shot up the school in Roseburg.
The president is blaming guns and gun control is needed. Somehow he believes
this whole thing would not have happened if he restricted the rights of
everyone to have firearms. On the other side I have heard some blame the drugs
he was on as causing the psychotic event.

When all is said and done, a deranged young man when in and
shot a ton of people. He killed himself in the end and justice was swift. As
much as this stinks and we can blame tons of circumstances that caused this
event, but when all is said and done it was a single person doing evil.

Matthew 7:3 – 5 has Jesus talking about criticizing and
blaming others:

³ And why
beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the
beam that is in thine own eye? ⁴ Or how wilt thou say to
thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is
in thine own eye? ⁵ Thou hypocrite, first cast out the
beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote
out of thy brother’s eye.

We tend to live in a society where the blame game is more
common that taking personal responsibility. Take the video, Ms. Brown blamed
her husband for spilt coffee when he was at work. How many times do you
personally blame someone for something, anything? How many times was it totally
your fault? How many times was it because you were having emotions towards that
“blame’ee” that only you can control?

See we need to pull the plank out of our eyes before blaming
someone else for the spec! We tend to miss the obvious since we don’t want to admit
fault or own an emotion. It’s safer and easier to get mad, place blame and
absolve oneself from any responsibility.

The key again is be like Jesus and don’t blame others.
Even on the cross he did not blame those killing Him!!

I just got a new dredge for my gold mining operation. What
you quickly learn gold mining is you either need to be very lucky and hit the
spot each time you pan or you need to move a lot of dirt. When I say a lot
basic mining math says 1 ton of dirt in gold rich lands holds 1/30^th
of an ounce. So to get that magical 1 ounce of gold you need to move 30 tons of
dirt. To do this with a shovel is a bunch of work, so they created a dredge or
a dirt vacuum that sucks the dirt off the river bottom and moved it into a
sluice that separates the gold out and sends the junk off.

This is a cool unit, it’s a HydroForce nozzle with ability
to dredge on dry ground, which is necessary these days since there is little
water flowing in the creeks. I also got a Gold Hog Raptor as a highbanker to
process the dirt. All using a Keene pump to move a bunch of water. So with this
I have punched through to bedrock in an hour, something that has taken weeks to
get to with a shovel. So it’s off to the races to see how much I can move
before it become too wet to work my spot.

So as I am working I am thinking about the current political
hogwash going on (no analogy to the Gold Hog which washes my dirt) and how much
nonsense is being said. I only have AM radio and the internet so life is good!
But a candidate I support, Ben Carson, is taking a lot of heat on various
things. First is abortion, where the abortion rights people believe he is anti-woman,
where in fact he is pro-child. The other thing which has a video floating
around from The View, where the gaggle of liberal women ganged up on him for
saying Sharia Law is not compatible with the US Constitution.

Guess what, it isn’t! The irony is they were attacking him
as being anti-Muslim and a racist. Ironically Mr. Carson is a black man!!

Also, they are defending a law that would have
them in burkas and being stoned for what they have said.

Anyway it just goes to show the nature of the mindless attacks today where
people don’t logically discuss a position, but attack. They take things out of
context or misrepresent what is said or in the case of The View put words in
the mouth of Mr. Carson.

I reflect on James 4:11 when thinking about this climate:

Speak not evil one of another,
brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother,
speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou
art not a doer of the law, but a judge.

Now don’t get me as overly biased to the right, I see the
Republican’s doing the same thing to Hillary Clinton. Sean Hanity seems to be
at the top of this group. I also see this in reporting of news. The recent
shooting in Roseburg had initial reports of this shooter isolating Christians,
or that he was white and so on. Now these unsubstantiated reports are gaining traction
and being used in churches as how we need to live our lives without fear of
death. Ugh, I can go on and on about this subject, but we need to look at our
personal lives and how we conduct ourselves. Suggestion is everyone involved in
politics needs to read James in full before being able to run!!

With this season starting and my gold operation going
into full force, we see that moving dirt is good in one venue and bad in the
other. Honestly if those who dug dirt for the news waited until they actually
found “gold” before reporting may actually have some credibility.

Proverbs 23:4 – 5 made me reflect on the work environment
today:

⁴ Labour not
to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. ⁵ Wilt thou set
thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings;
they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

I think of the many jobs I have had throughout the years,
how I put my all into a few only to be chewed up and spit out. Recently I
remember staying until 2 am to finish preparing for a factory test. I was
disciplined for taking a morning off when the test was over without
consideration of the long hours the days before. Today is full of those who
work for riches and those who follow God have a tough time saying no to
authority and tend to get burned out often or get caught in the quest for
money.

Solomon was a wise man and knew the quest for money was a fleeting
thing. Granted he was wildly rich and did not need anything, but God granted
him WISDOM before blessing him. Those who follow the Lottery winners and how
many go from rags-to-riches-to-rags in short order know the money has wings. It’s
short term!

Now I think of Isaiah 40:31 and mounting up on wings of
eagles when I read this, but man they have two completely different meanings.
The Proverb above was talking about our money mounting up while Isaiah was
talking about believers mounting up.

Now the key is money is not everything, nor “the only thing”,
but rather the purist of God. So mount your wings and focus on God, serve man
but with the understanding that it is for God’s glory! The key is don’t let
money become your guide in life, but God!! I know that with mining for gold,
one can become obsessed with finding the glittery stuff. I need to read this
over and over to ensure I don’t get the “gold bug” or “gold feaver”! Maybe that
is why it has been my homepage for sometime!!

I am enjoying my new hobby of mining. It’s a peaceful time
in the mountains trying to figure out how nature would have done things. First
there are two types of gold, placer and lode. Place has been moved and is found
in streambeds, while lode deposits are still in hard rock. The biggest thing
you can tell between the two is one is smooth while the other is jagged. One
has been beaten and tumbled by water, while the other is still encased by rock.

When you discover gold you will notice it’s either alluvial
or eluvial. Eluvial has broken from the bedrock lode, and is still encased in
rock most of the time. Alluvial has been washed down the hill to the streambed
to become placer. So as you are finding gold, especially placer that is jagged
one can get excited about finding a possible lode. So as we hunt we find
different pieces and can determine the geology of the land by what we discover,
in hopes of hitting the “mother lode” and some real “pay dirt”!

When I first heard the definition of alluvial I thought of
the NeedtoBreathe song “Washed by the Water”. Hebrews 10:22 talks about our bodies
being washed in the water:

Let us draw near with a true heart
in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

Our hearts are made pure by the sacrifice of Jesus on the
cross, like being washed with pure water. Our hearts are then considered
alluvial hearts since we have been tumbled and changed. Sure we may be removed
from the lode and considered eluvial, but we have not yet been washed. That is
the key here since for a true and complete transformation we cannot be
encrusted with rock and jagged, but beaten and pounded by the turbulent flow of
water. In the end we are smooth and formed by God himself. Our jagged and
harden hearts are softened and smoothed, but the blood that flowed for us.

On the subject of mining, been seeing a bunch of ties into
the search for gold and the quest for learning Jesus. In this I am thinking
about using this land God has blessed us with to do father/son mining camps,
where we teach the pair how to mine. At the same time show them how this ties
into our relationship with Jesus. What do you think?

 The feminist movement has fixed some injustices that were in
society. While a woman can now live autonomously from a man, not having to rely
on their income, a negative ripple has flown down. God made women and men
different for a purpose, I believe one can look to the military to see the
successes and failures of this movement. With that said I think the role of a
man in the household has been diminished. Often we see the women as the primary
bread winner and men take the “Mr. Mom” role.

Ephesians 5:22-30 (I’m not going to paste the passage) is
often pointed to by feminist on how the woman is put down in society and how
the Bible is arcane. It does not say the woman cannot be the sole bread winner,
but rather how men and women conduct the marriage. It is compared to how we
conduct ourselves with God and the church. Each party has a role and are
subject to the authority of God.

Honestly many men today become subjects to their wives
because of this and that is not the intention, nor are women to be subjects of
their husbands as in the past. The key is there is a hierarchy that is natural.
Men do somethings well while women do other things well, we cannot fight
nature. God does not RULE over us and since the marriage is compared to our
relationship with God we must understand that just because a man is stronger
does not mean he is to push his will on his wife, but rather use his strength
to protect and comfort her.

It’s really that simple! We should never have a relationship
where one is pushed around by the other. With that said, we should not become
couch potatoes watching football and all the shows about football, expecting
the house work to be done by the wife. This is where a marriage becomes
unequally yoked.

I don’t really know where I am going with this other
than we all need to “man up” and serve the other party in a marriage! Jesus did
not rule over the church, he served it. We are to love our partner as Jesus
loved the church. Get it? Ok, now do it!

Often people say I spend too much time focusing on end times
and evil cabals in the world. I justify it by the need to know to protect
myself and others, but at the same time I am removing my focus from God and the
word. When all is said and done I cannot control squat other than my own peace
and understanding of God. If you have followed this for any time, I have gotten
excited about this end date or that with all passing without notice.

Today my friend and prayer warrior Aimee posted on her FB page
the following (link to quote):

“I can’t afford to live in reaction
to darkness. If I do, darkness has had a role in setting the agenda for my
life. The devil is not worthy of such influence, even in the negative. Jesus
lived in response to the Father. I must learn to do the same.” – Hosting the
Presence

I tie this into Matthew 6:33 and we see Jesus saying where
we need to remain focused:

 But seek ye
first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be
added unto you.

So much of my time has been focused on what the Devil is
doing in this word and not God. Heck, my life was spared by God and I still
focus on crap like the Illuminati. The only thing I can control is my actions
and direction. Sure God my bump me around a bit to keep me on the right path,
but ultimately MY freewill determines my direction.

The past 3 years my focus has been “off the ball” and on
thing that I cannot do anything about. So I am making an effort to change
direction and go back to the Bible more than focusing on “The Secret” and its
undertones or the end times approaching fast or some group of wicked men who
think they are in control. I will pray that those not willing following God
will do so and “seek ye first the kingdom of God”! That is ALL I can do.

My focus need to be on preparing for “the end” by spreading
the love of Jesus, not fear of evil. Evil will be and has always been, nothing
will change until the end. So the focus needs to be on protecting ourselves and
OTHERS from evil by showing them the love Jesus can give them NOW, not the
umbrella of protecting He provides over an event that has been in the works
since Jesus was raised.

So love and seek God FIRST …

12 Stone is doing their “At The Movies” series which is very
innovative. They take a “blockbuster” movie and actually go into it. They will
make sets and film the service on the sets and dive into the movie and relate
the story to Biblical truths. This past week they did Despicable Me, a cartoon
with an evil genius with his partners in crime, the Minions. Cute story where
he gets foster children and turns from his dreams to theirs. Making a play on
the name they started talking about big ME and little me in context to God.

Matthew 25:40 sums this up in a nutshell:

And the King shall answer and say
unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the
least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

We recently talked about this in “Here’s a Bit of a
Rattlesnake” but wanted to look at it from the view of our own actions.  In the movie Gru started to put the dreams and
wishes of others before his own. He finds the children became more important
than his dreams and desires. Suddenly shrinking the moon and capturing it was
not as important as loving these children.

This is a lesson we need to really take in and not just do, but
have it become our soul. I can honestly say this is hard and will cause ripples
with people around you including family, but is really critical. Remember this
is a verse in the story of the sheep and the goats, where one group does not
make it into heaven although they did great things for God.

I think of this often since putting someone before you is
very hard and is not what the world tells us. We have everything from friends
to “spiritual” leaders telling us to get. I have even explored this theme in
The Secret, where the focus is USING the law of attraction to gain glory and
riches for one’s pleasure. This is why it’s so difficult for us to put into
action.

But that is where Jesus helps, what is impossible for
us to do, it’s possible through Jesus! It’s not just doing, but it is being. Jesus
makes this possible and when things change in the world, often as in the movie
they get better because your view of the world is seen through Jesus’ eyes and
not the worlds.

We often read God is a jealous God, like in Nahum 1:2 where
God is upset with His people:

God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth;
the Lord revengeth, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on
his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.

Many people say this is an example of why God is
unreasonable and therefore not real. But think of this another way and not just
focused on disproving God. Consider you fell in love and got married. Your love
and devotion to that person is unmeasurable. Well time goes on and the marriage
becomes mundane, the “spark” appears to be lost. Suddenly a unannounced return
home finds the one you trusted in the arms of another.

What would your response be? Would you just say “ok, have
fun and I’ll return in an hour?” Or would it be jealously and anger? This is
what God is feeling, not an anger against those who never knew Him, but those
who He gave special favor to and they rejected Him. They started fooling around
when things were not going the way they thought things should. 

God is jealous and vengeful when one devotes their life to
HIM and then rejects His ways. God is not going to be jealous and vengeful if
you have never given your life to Him. If you have rejected Him from the start
it is no different from the “first love” who would not go out with you. God is
like you, sure that person may never love you and the relationship you desire
may not flourish like you want. At the same time you move on and are not
jealous about their life. 

That is the difference between a jealous relationship
and a casual one. God is furious when the loving relationship is compromised.

Well yesterday was the end … and I guess people were wrong

Got thinking about the world of cults today and immediately
though back to Jim Jones cult who all committed suicide with Kool-Aid. It’s
amazing how one man can control others to the point of killing oneself to
follow a path. I think of the San Diego cult who many committed suicide waiting
for the alien ship to pick them up. Then I think of how Christianity is called
a cult by those who are detractors. And then I think of how many denominations
point to others saying they are a cult. Then I think to Matthew 7:1 which is
simple:

Judge not, that ye be not judged.

Now judging the practices of a cult which uses mind control
to make their followers do anything without “free-will” involved is dangerous.
Nothing is scarier than the idea one of our children could be following a nut
job. Heck it’s spooky that we could do that.

I think of my old church home, 12 Stone, and how many called
them a cult because of the influx of stickers. This specific comment was one
with the stick figure family, but one was an elephant. It was promoting a
series on an elephant in the room and we placed one on our shop window. Well
one came in accusing 12 Stone of being a cult because of the large number of
these in the community. It was actually a blessing to see the community was so
full of believers.

At a previous church we had a Sunday school class about “Witnessing
To The Witnesses” and immediately got concerned because of how we were calling
a fellow church a cult. Then the finger got pointed to the Mormons and Catholic
church with the same accusations. I shortly ended our time there since I knew
many in each faith and during the class had detailed discussions about the
faith. You know what the common thread was? All believed in the Salvation
through Jesus!!

Sure one believed Jesus was a man and not God, but scripture
says Jesus was the SON of God. One complaint was a change in the Bible that was
horrendous. Honestly you look at every translation and people can see doctrinal
biases. I can find numerous sites that will tell you the KJV is bad, the NIV is
bad, the Message is bad and so on.

Honestly the ONLY church that has knocked on my door and
witnessed to me was the Jehovah Witnesses. If we are really concerned for the
salvation of others why are we not making an effort to share our faith? Sure
one could say the Mormons are “works based”, but one could read the Bible and
understand that our salvation is not from works, but our fruits are so
therefore we need to DO more!

When all is said and done, a cult is a cult and a
denomination is not. Be very careful of judging others within our faith. Sure I
think the Watchtower is odd, sure I don’t like the additional books in the
Mormon Bible but who am I to say that is wrong? My key is as long as salvation
through Jesus is taught, the rest is details that we need to figure out on our
own through READING THE BIBLE with guidance from elders.

The Tenth Commandment in Exodus 20:17 is the one that goes
into the mind:

Thou shalt not covet thy
neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his
manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is
thy neighbour’s.

This one was addressed by Jesus many times, the most famous
is Matthew 5:28 where Jesus addresses this specifically:

But I say unto you, That whosoever
looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already
in his heart.

Most interpret this as lust is the same thing as committing adultery.
Often they say Jesus was stepping up the OT Law and making it more difficult.
He did this with money also where the tithe is not enough. But in all cases if
you look closely they all broke the last commandment. Lust is coveting another
man’s wife, if you make money above God you are coveting it and therefore
breaking the last commandment.

I started thinking about this recently as I watch this
nation come unraveled. The people who are in the lead to become president are
ego-centric and I fear they covet power. Honestly the only one that seems
sincere in his quest for the office is Ben Carson and maybe Bernie Sanders, but
in most cases the desire for power is above the desire for what God wants for
our nation.

Also, I think about how many of faith are focusing on the “end”
and survival. The focus is not saving as many as we can but making sure the
family is safe. The coveting is safety and how the other “prepers” are better
off for disasters. Heck you even have people making mansions in bomb shelters
to protect themselves. In the end, will you lock them out or open the door?
Will you ensure they are prepared spiritually or will you make sure you are
safe? See we are in a tough time … on two fronts.

Honestly, the president has to be a freak anyway to be put
through the rectal exam the press will give them, unless their last name begins
with a C;-)

Exodus 20:13 is simple in what it says:

Thou shalt not kill.

Now many take this to be kill anyone since the Hebrew could
be interpreted as causing death from carelessness or neglect. The CJB actually
uses “murder” so why does the KJV use kill? Well kill meant murder in 1610 and
therefore through the changes in the English language have made the 6^th
commandment the most misused commandment by pacifists because of the KJV, where
most other translations have been updated to murder.

So is abortion murder? Well one could argue it is second
degree murder or even first degree because of the forethought required to have
an abortion, but it comes down to morals. Do you believe the life is started at
conception or when the chord is cut or when it can survive outside the womb? It’s
ironic that the same government that allows abortion will charge a person with “murder”
if they kill a wanted fetus.

The morality is complex and the legalization is difficult to
justify when you look at a child as a life. I was pro-choice before my daughter
was born, but flipped at her birth knowing we almost aborted her! She would not
be if it was not for a decision to get married verse taking the easy path.

Now I am ardent pro-life, but with a choice slant. I
understand I cannot reason someone into thinking a fetus is a life, but I do
believe the person getting the abortion should have the opportunity to know
that the life they may end is special. So while I believe abortion should be
legal, it should also be informed and the person should have a 10 day waiting
period. Also, on demand is wrong and should stop after 2 months. Something is
wrong if it takes you 5 to 7 months to realize you are with child!

Also, recently the horror of harvesting fetus tissues has
come to light. This is horrific that an organization that is there for the
woman has a profit motive to end a woman’s pregnancy. The line has been crossed
in decency and this practice must end. I still say keep it legal, privately
funded and safe but also with informed consent. Also, if the baby’s parts are
to be harvested, 100% of the revenue goes to a charity of the mother’s choice
outside the clinic.

Ironically the Clinton Administration had the best idea on
abortion to make it “safe, legal and rare”.

In today’s church we seem to have lost something. I love 12
Stone and their way of presenting the gospel in a compelling and entertaining
manner, but I often wonder are we missing the bigger picture? A church that
size sends tons of people out into the world to spread the love and gospel of
Jesus, but the ratio is very small when related to the average attendance on
any given Sunday. They have many programs that are a huge impact on the
community and the world but again for the lay person it is minimal.

Now don’t get me wrong, this is not an ailment for
mega-churches, but also the small churches. It’s a condition of mankind today!
We all just need a kick in the rear to move sometimes. And often when we are
doing something we need a kick in a new direction. At 12 Stone I became
comfortable during my short stint as a Parking Warrior. My work was done at the
end of each Sunday with an occasional weekday event, but that was not all I
could or should have been doing!

No we need to understand we have skills and need to use them
for the kingdom but at the same time we need to realize that our mouths are the
main tool. Sure cleaning someone’s mess is important in showing God’s love, but
speaking WHY you are loving on someone is just as important as doing. We need
to be willing, NOT COMFORTABLE, in talking about Jesus at any time necessary.  

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you need to be a soap
box evangelist because that has many problems, like the lives they change may
not take root. They are there to plant, but provide no cultivation in the long
run. Churches are no different today, it has become a numbers game on how many
come down for the altar call or how many baptisms, and not how many are being
sent out to plant new gardens. The most attacked position is someone new to the
faith, and without good soil they will be plucked quickly from the fold.

THE CHURCH IS THE GROUND IN WHICH THE SEED IS PLANTED. We
can all say the individual who heard the Word was not receptive or grounded,
but why not blame the church? We get a new salvation and what do we do most of
the time, move on to getting the next and hope the fall into a good small
group. What really needs to be done is take that new believer and shield them
for the onslaught of attacks from the enemy that WILL ensue. The new believer
is our most cherished possession and should be protected from the world just
like a newborn child.

The parable referenced here is the one of the Sower in
Matthew 13:1 – 23 and the ground should be looked at as their CHURCH and not
their MIND!