Then we should be moving heaven and earth

Posted on 01/05/2012 by remso

I cannot seem to help it. I get so involved in passages of scripture or an intended study that I lose contact with the outside world. That is not necessarily a bad thing as most of world offers me nothing. Don’t get me wrong, I love art, music, a good play, and of nature. But the soap opera of life just drags me down, and I really do not care who won the lousy ball game. That being said I decided to read the book of Acts, again.

There is a background motivation for that. I get information from Chuck Misler’s organization, and he, in describing an aspect found in the book of Acts got me interested once again.

 (Acts 1:1-3 KJV)

The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

 Allow me to shorten this, in an effort to get to the point.

….all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up,

…To whom also he shewed himself alive

….by many infallible proofs,

…being seen of them forty days,

…and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

 I want so badly to know what he said to them.

 Proofs:

  • The correctness of operations in mathematics are ascertained by proof.
  • Any effort, process or operation that ascertains truth or fact.
  • That degree of evidence which convinces the mind of the certainty of truth of fact, and produces belief.
  • Proof is derived from personal knowledge, or from the testimony of others, or from conclusive reasoning.

To be infallible is to be beyond dispute. The quality of being incapable of error or mistake. There is no room for argument, at least of a logical nature.

HE IS ALIVE; he is truth; he is coming, just as he said he would; there is a heaven, just as he said, and he is taking us there with him.

See it, feel it, and you can almost taste it, it is so real.

 While he was still with them, he said: Don’t leave Jerusalem yet. Wait here for the Father to give you the Holy Spirit, just as I told you he has promised to do. (Acts 1:4 CEV)

 And so they stayed. Acts chapter 2:16 finds them being filled with the Holy Spirit of God and speaking with other tongues, tongues that seem to cover the gamut of foreign languages that had come to Jerusalem. Many thought they were drunk. Yeah right!

Peter, is back with a vengeance, and jumps up to speak. Here is a portion of what he said:

 But this is what God had the prophet Joel say,

“When the last days come, I will give my Spirit to everyone. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will have dreams. In those days I will give my Spirit to my servants, both men and women, and they will prophesy. I will work miracles in the sky above and wonders on the earth below. There will be blood and fire and clouds of smoke. The sun will turn dark, and the moon will be as red as blood before the great and wonderful day of the Lord appears. Then the Lord will save everyone who asks for his help.” (Acts 2:16-21 CEV)

 “it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh…”

Dake’s notes state that the Jews understood this term “in the last days” to mean in “the days of the Messiah.”

 Some thoughts about this. This could apply to the time that he was, and will be physically here. – OK, that gets blown out of water quickly, because only a short time before this he ascended. That means he left the earth.

 Perhaps “ the days of the Messiah” is “the day of the Lord”. One could logically make that assumption because Peter associates Joel’s prophecy with that time frame, therefore “the day of Lord” began at that point. There are things that happen around us that might make you believe that.

 Allow me to explore some aspects of Joel’s prophecy.

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand– a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was in ancient times nor ever will be in ages to come. (Joel 2:1-2 NIV)

 As you can see from this he is talking about the time of judgment.

 The LORD thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty is the army that obeys his command. The day of the LORD is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it? (Joel 2:11 NIV)

 Now it appears that he speaking of the time at the end of the Great Tribulation, if the army of the Lord is coming. Still we are speaking in terms of judgment.

 “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. (Joel 2:28-31 NIV)

 While this sounds like a glorious time when God will speak through his people, there is still a reference to the dreadful day of the Lord.

 As I read through Joel’s prophecy recently, I was taken by the statement “in the last days”. Throughout scripture this has been associated with the times of judgment and the Lord’s return.

 Here is a problem I have with the timing of Joel’s prophecy.

 If that time began, then it opened the door to the day of the prophet. If that is the case, then we should be moving heaven and earth at the mention of Jesus name.

 A short story.

For a time I rented a room from a friend. As we sat and watched the evening news many years ago, they gave a minute by minute news update about a hurricane about to slam into the Galveston Texas coastline. I turned to him and said, “you know, scripture tells us that the oceans are bound by the coastline and not allowed to cross them.” Puzzled he just looked at me. I said, “ watch this”, and I prayed, out loud there in front of him. “In the name of Jesus I command this hurricane to honor those boundaries and turn back out to sea.” In a matter of minutes the newscaster came back on and said, “we are all puzzled and pleased, as the hurricane has just turned back out to sea.” Several minutes passed and it was reduced to merely a wet wind storm. My friend was visibly shaken by the power of God.

 Don’t you realize that God intended for this to be our lifestyle. It has been religion and fear of failure that has prevented you from living like this.

 I cannot begin to describe what I feel right now. It is like standing out in the most beautiful place ever seen, experiencing a one of kind sunrise, and you are standing there taking it all in as the colors of a new day explode upon the palette of the sky.

 How would your world change if you knew your words were dynamic and alive, charged by the Spirit of the Living God?

 They Are! Those days are upon us. God is drawing Muslims from around the world to him through dreams and visions.

 What is God saying to you? I know that he has spoken to many of you, and he has called you to come to him. He was standing there with arms open wide, motioning for you to come. Run to him, and Jesus Christ the risen one will come into your life if you will ask him. Allow him to have the control in your life and you will gain a freedom that you never thought possible.

Posted in End times, Hope, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Millennial kingdom – Who are all these people?

Posted on 01/03/2012 by remso

If you read my blogs then you know that much of what I write is what I grapple with. Here goes another one.

Let’s assume a scenario; I just happen to think (based upon what I see in scripture) this is how it will happen: The rapture – the great snatching away of the church (that is a whole other issue I will dive into later) takes place. The rapture, as I see it, is on the cutting edge of God’s wrath. God’s wrath is an part of the Great Tribulation.

The Great Tribulation – Has two components –

God’s wrath being poured out upon the earth in the form of: 1. The 7 seal judgments; 2. the 7 trumpet judgments; 3. the 7 bowl judgments. This may not look like God’s hand when you look at the players involved, but it certainly is. If nothing else happened, such as be-headings in the name of Allah, I cannot imagine anyone surviving on the earth, and yet they do.

The second is the work of the Beast, (a man driven by a Satanic spirit that has shown up many times, in many people, throughout man’s tenure here on earth.) and the False Prophet.

(Islam fulfills both of these roles in their prophecies. The Mahdi, also known as the 12thImam, and a prophetic person named Isa ben Maryiam. In English, Jesus the son of Mary, not God. I am telling you that if you will find out more about who these characters are that Islam is anxiously awaiting, it will alarm you, and scripture will suddenly make more sense than you ever thought possible. If you are bold enough, find the book “The Islamic Antichrist”, by Joel Richardson and read it.)

Cover of "The Islamic Antichrist: The Sho...

Cover via Amazon

At the rapture the Church, those that are awaiting the return of Jesus Christ, will be removed from the earth.

(An aspect that has caused me some confusion is “the dead in Christ” shall rise first. I suppose I am confused because if you want to analyze it, we are all dead. We were born into death thanks to Adam’s transgression.) If, as scripture states, to absent from the body is to be present with the Lord then there really are no Christian dead, lying around waiting to be caught up. I am really  not sure why any part of the body needs to be recovered, but there you have it. Clearly God made each one of unique in some way, and that body, in better shape than when you left it, will be restored intact. For you skeptics. Was Jesus body found in the grave after the three days? No. This is making my mind swim as I think about bodies and their propensity to decompose. Really, what are we talking about here? Atoms. Apparently God is able to reconstruct an entire body from whatever molecule is left.

If the church is gone, who is left?

  1. OK, so those who God found awaiting him are gone. Who is left? A lot of religious folk who thought they should have gone; the cults who live on the fringe of acknowledging Christ as Lord, but most have no real idea (I hope that I am wrong about many of them. If they learn of Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God, and anxiously await him, then they should be gone as well), sadly I think that most will still be here. There will be the eastern religions, and a few stray cats mixed in.One of the things that recently caught my attention was Matthew 25:1. Jesus said the last day will be like ten virgins that were coming to the wedding. Jesus Christ is coming on that day to gather us to the wedding. Half of them, though on their way, in their mind, were unprepared, and when the call finally came they started scrambling for oil. A key to understanding what is happening here is Matthew 25:5 which says, “While the bridegroom tarried they slumbered and slept.”

    Even as I write these things, and talk about them with people, this is what I get, “why are you getting all worked up, we have waited for him for over two thousand years. Beside all that, the world is always in turmoil, and people are always in some form of tribulation.” With that being said, they spiritually go back to sleep.

    When you consider that no oil based lamp burns forever and must be refilled, and we are equated to an oil lamp with a limited burn time, then there must be the need to keep replenishing that oil. That would have to be on a daily basis, and multiple times a day.

  2. So we have established that many versions of religious types will be left here, what about the others? While Islam believes in a god, no less than the oriental religions believe in god(s), I did not even, in my mind, include them as I thought about the religious folk that have been left. I suppose you could chalk my attitude up to prejudice. That was a common, and unspoken teaching in church, I cannot remember a colored person in our church growing up. Dear Lord, I hope God can set that tragic problem aside when he comes for us. Islam, though staunchly religious, and appalled at our lack of morality, is entwined in a hatred of the Almighty, and refuses to believe that Jesus Christ, though a good man and a prophet, was the Son of God, or God himself. Bottom line, they are in opposition to everything we believe outside of morality, and yet even that is twisted, for a man can get away with things that a woman cannot.I suppose the bottom line here, on those that are left, are the godless, the unknowing, the scared, and the arrogant. We are not to be naive When Adam committed treason, handing the earth over to Satan, and eating the fruit of the tree that gave knowledge of both good and evil, he passed that knowledge, I suppose genetically, through every generation since. NO MAN will have an excuse, for they know what good is and have chosen not to do it.

    Why do you think that God wreaks such destruction upon the earth’s inhabitants, because having the opportunity to accept the loving act of the one who created you, and paid for your release from the genetic damage that Adam did, with HIS OWN BLOOD, they reject him.

    God out of love, gave man the opportunity to choose for himself, and there in the problem lies.

Alright then, the rapture comes and goes, along with seven years of horrid events culminating in Jesus return to earth (When he returns the first place he plants his feet is the Mount of Olives, NO PLACE ELSE.). The beast, and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire. I suspect primarily because they deceived so many people, and Satan is locked up for a thousand years of peace on this earth.

  1. The saints – those who were beheaded for their testimony are brought back to life, and possibly those who refused to take the mark (this may be something that you wear just as the Jews did during the time of the Holocaust.) and / or refused to worship the beast or his image that speaks – will reign with Christ during the following thousand years.
  2. But there are other people.

 Micah 4:1-5 KJV But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. (2) And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (3) And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. (4) But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it. (5) For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.

This is the first time I have ever paid attention to this, but it is not a fluke because other passages substantiate what I am seeing.

Remember, we are considering the millennial reign. Christians taken up in the rapture are stated to be the city, the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven. Here on earth, during the 1000 years, in one of those references to that city, it is called “the camp of God”.

At the end of the 1000 years Satan is released and rallies the nations, those outside the camp of God, against the camp of God.

Who is Satan deceiving this time? Not those who live in the city, but those that live outside the city. Were they outside because they refuse to acknowledge Jesus Lordship? There are a lot of possibilities, but exclusion is not one of them. Would they have been safe if they had been inside? Certainly.

A quick reassessment. We have people during the millennial reign that are walking in the name of their god, and living outside the city.

Revelation 22:14-15 CEV (14) God will bless all who have washed their robes. They will each have the right to eat fruit from the tree that gives life, and they can enter the gates of the city. (15) But outside the city will be dogs, witches, immoral people, murderers, idol worshipers, and everyone who loves to tell lies and do wrong.

These two verses stun me.
  1. I would have thought that the time of washing of the robes had passed. Perhaps this is a continuing process which implies that Holy Spirit is still alive and active even during the millennial reign.
  2. People are continuing to come to Christ. Sure, Satan is no longer an issue, but man still has the ability to choose. The logical aspect of this is that life continues to go on. Survivors of the Great Tribulation continue to have families and we now have an exponential multiplication of people once again. Everyone of those people will apparently have to choose Jesus over whatever else is being offered to them.
  3. Only those who have washed their robes can enter the gates. Obviously this continues to imply the blood of Christ and salvation. Therefore an acceptance of the price he paid for us is necessary, and continuing to happen.
  4. Verse 15 is the most unnerving part of all. For it implies that sin still runs rampant throughout the earth. Jesus and the millennial saints would seem to be the peace keepers, and I suspect the blatantly sinful indulgences will be dealt with swiftly. But I never in my wildest imagination thought that God, in his mercy, would allow such a thing to happen at this point.

There has to have been survivors of the tribulation that God’s mercy has pulled through. We tend to think of the tribulation as a time of purging, and it is, but of all evil? Apparently not. Man’s ability to make choices has not been taken away, and clearly many have made some form of choice to follow God and not the anti-Christ, therefore he extends his hand of mercy and pulls them into the millennial reign right next to the saints of God.

No evil is allowed in the city. Where is evil coming from if it’s motivation and inspiration is locked up? This can only mean that evil is in the heart of man. Think about it. Adam’s transgression brought us knowledge of good and evil, along with death.

Believers throughout the life of earth have been raised to a new, incorruptible life at the rapture. Tribulation saints are those that were beheaded and resurrected, apparently they too were raised incorruptible.

I am not so sure about those that survived without taking the mark or worshiping the beast. Would not refusal to do take the mark give you an all access pass. We certainly see them here during the millennial reign, but I would not think that the freedom of choice they had and refused, prior to the tribulation, is still on the table merely because they refused the mark, nor worshiped the beast.

But, if, based upon the concept that half the so-called Christian population does not make it in the rapture, this would not necessarily be where such horrible evil comes from.

Others that may not make the rapture are those that are considered the cults, such as the Latter Day Saints and the Mormons. They are on the fringe of the truth, but have been deceived into believing that some other tripe is true, not God’s word. They are fairly decent people, and mind you anyone can go over the edge, but on the whole we do not see that happening with this bunch.

Let’s assume for a moment that intelligent people will suddenly open their eyes, realizing that Islam offers no hope and make a stand against it. Does intelligence make you less evil? No, you are usually just smarter about it. Bernie Madoff who stole millions from investors is no less evil than the murderer.

If there is a point to this oration, it is that my notions have been blown out of the water. Is that a bad thing? No, actually I love that God still chooses to speak to me. What this proves to me, again, is that God’s mercy has exceeded all boundaries and constraints that my mind had.

I am suddenly reminded of a passage that caught my attention as I was eating dinner.

John 9:39 KJV “And Jesus said, For judgment (a sifting) I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.”

Blinded by ignorance or arrogance, I am not sure, but suddenly things just got a little clearer for me. I do not know why, but God just keeps pointing out his mercy to me, and I love him for it. Having received far more mercy than I deserved, I find myself falling more and more in love with the one who showed me that mercy.

Posted in End times, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Not seeing, you believe.

Posted on 01/02/2012 by remso

A continuing look at 1 Peter chapter 1.

 1 Peter 1: 7-9

“….at the appearing of Jesus Christ: (8) Whom having not seen, you love; in whom, though now you see him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

(9) Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

 It is oft-times impossible to just jump in without asking what you are jumping into, and diving into this passage at verse 8 is no different, so I have included a portion of verse 7. I had written to you on previous occasions about Jesus Christ, the living one, our savior, and I had talked about the strong, living hope that we are entitled to hold on to. Why say entitled? Because I feel that many will try to beat this out of you, implying that you are not entitled. Peter used some strong words in describing this hope, and lively is one of them. As a recent acquaintance said, lively is something that is fresh, clean, strong, as in a mountain stream that is running without obstruction, and that is how powerful this hope is intended to be in us.

Anyone feel that definite or secure in your hope? Probably not; if not, then ask yourselves why? Did someone dispel that hope in you. The means is irrelevant, it happens too often. There is only one way to support a strong foothold in many aspects of God life he has planned for us, and that is personal knowledge. Even if all you had was an audible word that someone spoke to you. Constantly reminding yourself that the promise of his coming is true keeps that alive in you.

The Dake’s bible notes indicates that this part of verse 7 is where the rewards will be made known in the eternal kingdom. “At the appearing of Jesus Christ:”. On that day, in the twinkling of an eye, we will be caught up to meet him in the air. (1 Corinthians 15:52)

What if any rewards come as a result of some judgment that we are to receive? This of course makes the assumption that there is the potential for punishment as well. Let’s see if we can make sense of this.

We still have local fairs around here, and folks enter the things they make in contests just so that their item can be judged. The winners take home rewards in the form of ribbons and the knowledge that this day they were the best. So, even in judging there can be a reward. Of course the parallel is a criminal case in which you are either guilty or innocent. If found to be guilty then you are judged and sentenced, and this only punishment. I think it is more common for us to think of judgment in this way.

When it comes to our guilt or innocence, we should have been judged for our sins; we were born guilty.

Sin being the debt that we could not pay, but Jesus took all that judgment for the sin upon himself, freeing us from the judgment for sin. I know people who cannot or will not grasp that.

Do I still sin? Absolutely, but I am covered by his blood and I do not make a habit of it, and scripture tells me that I will not be judged for my sins, and neither will you. Having been forgiven by God my sins, no matter how small, I still affect other people as I choose to continue sinning and being selfish. That make things very difficult later when I try to tell them about a God that loves them. Why? Because we all do it, we make judgments about how everyone else is going to treat me based upon the bad example that sin always gives.

What I do know is that in spite of me God still loves me. I am a working example of his grace. I have experienced his mercy first hand and if I know anything, I know God is merciful. NO, I do not take advantage of his mercy by constantly pushing the envelope. Paul spoke of this when he wrote about using your liberty in front of those who are weaker, causing them to stumble. You are not sinning at that point, but you are certainly being selfish, because your liberty is not considering anyone but you, and there are people who will think that what you are doing is sin. Yes, I realize that this internal struggle they are having is all them, but why promote it.

If you knew that a person among you was an alcoholic, and that alcohol was a tremendous and detrimental draw to them. Would you be serving up alcohol with them at the gathering? Taking it a step further, if someone close to you was an alcoholic would you torture them with your freedom to drink, at all?

1 Corinthians 8:9 NIV Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak.

Look at Romans 3:4 KJV God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, that you might be justified in your sayings, and might overcome when you are judged.

The word judged here is: krino, and means to separate, to pick out or select.

Certainly God has and is going to separate us out, that is the purpose behind the snatching away. Jesus spoke a parable to this effect that describes the angels coming and separating the wheat from the tares; this happens in the last days, and is an example of him judging, as he picks out those that are his. Matthew 13:30

What if this judgment is something else? What if it is based solely upon our actions toward others? That is the scariest part of all, for we might have some good moments, but far to many of us have damned someone to hell for the way they drive. Jesus said, in: Matthew 7:1-2 NIV “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. (2) For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Who was Jesus talking to? Religious Jews that refused, with minor exceptions, to accept who he was. This becomes important because this lifestyle of judgment is what Jesus was describing in Matthew 25 where God separates the sheep, from the goats.

When it comes to judging people I do not think I ever really learned my lesson, but I got a good dose of what the effects of judging is all about.

I had a moment where I was put in charge of the crew, primarily women. To tell you the truth, they were all great, knew how to do their jobs, and did them well. One in particular, a Christian girl, a bit of a whiner, was really going into a tailspin. As I look back on the situation she had bad feet, as I do now, but she integrated that pain into every other aspect of the job. She was having a meltdown on the day that I was in charge, saying that she could do the job anymore.

I really did not understand, but I tried to reason with her, pointing out that she was the one that had taught me how to do what they did. That did not end the rant so I got religious on her, and told her that I was ashamed of her and her lousy Christian example. Those are the words I used. There was a pained look on her face and she shut up. Six months to year went by, and I was working at another site when I learned, first hand, how painful those words could be as I was now the brunt of them. I truly believe that this was an example of Matthew 7 coming back to slap me in the face.

Paul wrote in: 1 Corinthians 11:31-32 NIV (31) But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. (32) Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.

Paul had addressed those who came to the Lord’s table in an unworthy manner. If you come, not being a glutton, but one who is giving thanks for the Lord’s sacrifice for you, then I suspect you are doing this act in a worthy manner. This address by Paul came from a time when there was actually something of a shared meal that the early Christian church would gather for. Apparently many would intentionally come hungry and eat everything in sight. Choosing not to gather to remember that Jesus paid a tremendous price for them, but treating God as common, it appears many got ill and paid the price in their physical bodies. In other words they were judged.

Here is the key to all this, hope.

Peter initiates this letter with a solid attempt at establishing or reestablishing hope. Not only hope, but a living hope.

Verse 8 begins with. “whom you have not seen, you love,”

This Jesus Christ, the one in whom we await.

If men were honest they would tell you that they fall in lust with the woman’s looks, and then they fall in love. Love is a growing process of interrelationship based upon trust. The problem with the way we fall in love becomes clear when you contrast it with our relationship with Christ, one whom we have never seen, and with only his Word to go on we must build the trust necessary for love.

So then, what was the thing that drew us to him? It was love, given without measure, and with no demands, merely open arms.

“…even though you do not see him now, you believe in him…”

How peculiar, coming from Peter. He saw him and yet denied Jesus, just to preserve his own skin. After Jesus death on the cross Peter quit and went back to fishing. Jesus, addressing a small group of disciples after the resurrection said, go tell the disciples and Peter. Jesus knew he had quit, and sought him out, just like a good shepherd might.

I can just see that father in the prodigal story, running down the road to greet the son that returned to him, receiving him back into the household.

Peter, witnessed his death and saw him alive after the resurrection, experienced the years of ministry, and had hands on evidence of his love. All I have is his word, and the feeling of love I feel as I bring my brokenness to him. Perhaps Peter is stunned and proud that so many have come to love him, someone they cannot experience in the same way that Peter did.

Can I be honest here. After ten years of relationship with a girlfriend, a woman who I would have wed. I finally called it quits. In almost every way she was wonderful, but she changed. I think that a constant stream of stresses, she acts like they are not there, and the change of life prompted her to turn her frustrations against me. My leaving was not what I meant to do, but in anger I sent a message that I could not retract, and through a combination of actions I brought the relationship to a crashing halt. Now here I am writing about a God that gave his own life for me, and a love I have with him even though I cannot see him. There is a huge incongruity inside me now.

When I made the commitment to marry, I had to make the choice to invest all of me into this. If a person jumps quickly into a relationship without knowing how the other person thinks and functions then you will have to learn. If your wise then this learning curve has to be integrated into the relationship.

Now what would make this easier as time goes by? Both parties consistently striving to love the other one. God loved this world, comparing his actions to entering into a marriage, knowing full well what scum we are.

There was no learning curve for God, he already knows everything about us. Does He overlook sins? He was fully aware that we all sinned and had become masterful at it. So what he did was obliterate that sin, and forgot it; on purpose.

What is left for God to do in relationship to us? He runs to us when we come to him. He puts the cloak of his kingdom upon us to show that we are still his, and he keeps his arms open wide so that we can return easily to him when we turn away.

To be a part of a marriage breakdown you have to work at it. You have to decide that your selfishness is more important than the relationship that God may have actually put together. You have to choose to destroy the team partnership that God may have intended to bring life to other people through. You have to choose to put others first, not God or your mate. You have to choose to degrade and ignore. You have to teach yourself and your children to disrespect the other. Do I need to go on?

And the oddity is that marriage is the relationship that God uses to relate to us. To reject him is to act like this toward him, a choice you make.

1 Peter 1:9 KJV Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

I see hope in this, a lively hope, and yet there is the terminology souls used. I will tell you that I want this body pulled out of here too. I will come back to this thought.

Another version puts it this way. 1 Peter 1:9 CJB And you are receiving what your trust is aiming at, namely, your deliverance.

What have we been talking about? Trust and relationship building without being able to see the other person. Without being able to read the others facial expressions as they speak of testing, trials and judgment. Without speaking Greek it is difficult to know that

the word krino used in Romans 3:4 KJV when Paul says, “… when you are judged. “ Means to separate, to pick out, or select.

Because we have this life with him, we have a promise of salvation. Salvation means deliverance and rescue, but from what?

Not from life and brutal people that surround you. Not from life’s steady stream of tribulations, but from the wrath that God is bringing upon the world, the Great Tribulation period.

1 Peter 4:12 NIV Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

2 Peter gives us clarity on this question of what we are being delivered from. Jesus told us that a Great Tribulation is coming upon the earth and that without God shortening time no one would survive it. The great tribulation period is a time of judgment upon the nations of the earth. This would not be the first time that God has destroyed man upon the earth, and Peter gives us Noah and Lot’s scenarios as an example (Look at 2 Peter chapter 2). God rescued those righteous men out of the destruction, but it was right up against the destruction. The destruction itself did not touch them, but the evil that God was eliminating was all around them.

I pointed out that several translations use the word souls. We should not have a problem with that for:

  1. The soul is currently an embedded part of the body. You cannot separate the two, but God can. We were first a soul or spirit, and then we were put into a body.
  2. 1 Corinthians 15:52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we shall be changed. Changed into what? Jesus said, “Flesh and blood, the body, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Therefore we will be changed into what ever Jesus became after his resurrection, incorruptible. Keep in mind that he was able to cook, eat a meal, and relax with the disciples.

My wish is that we escape the pain and destruction that is to come. I think that would require getting this body out of here. I suppose that I am fortunate and should not be complaining for Christians all over the world are being killed for their faith in Christ. We here in America believe that will not happen to us. I truly think that we are being naive when we espouse that kind of narrow-minded thought. There are very vocal people in America that are calling for Sharia law to govern this nation. When that happens they will come after you.

Don’t think that you are safe because you are a “bible” thumping Mormon or Latter Day Saint. If you adhere to something that looks like a bible then Islam will come after you as well. You are considered an infidel by them and will be beheaded. Apparently Islam is somewhat fair about this in that they will give you the opportunity to convert to Islam, and acknowledge that the only god is Allah and Mohammed, not Jesus Christ, is his prophet. To accept their deal is to take the mark and worship the beast. Trust me, you do not want to do that, for you will have excluded yourselves from any mercy God would have shown you.

Think about this for a moment. Why would taking the mark ( probably a prominently displayed armband, much like the Jews had to wear) be such a big thing? Because there are a couple of things that God absolutely cannot tolerate, idol worship and adultery. To give your “love” to someone else when he paid for your freedom with his own blood would have to be the last insult. Not only did he create, but had to buy you back, and why? To give you the opportunity to live with him in eternity. Therefore to reject him is like pushing every button necessary to bring about a divorce.

Don’t you realize that you have work at destroying a marriage. You have to choose selfishness, fornication, adultery, distrust, cheating, jealousy, lack of communication. These things were not part of a reasonable persons game plan on their wedding day. Why are they part of your game plan, in relationship to the Father, now?

Posted in End times, Hope, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Proven by fire and ready to be revealed

Posted on 12/25/2011 by remso

A continuing look at the Apostle Peter’s first letter. 1 Peter 1:5-7

 1 Peter 1:5-7 RV (the chosen of God) who by the power of God are guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (6) Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, ye have been put to grief in manifold temptations, (7) that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold that perishes though it is proved by fire, might be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ:

 One of the internal conflicts I have had, was with the concept of tribulation.

I have found myself directing my sarcasm at an imaginary voice which was whining about their tribulations because they could not get a new racing propeller for their boat (I have actually known a person like this).

Let’s set something straight. Tribulation traditionally implies that you are about to be imprisoned or killed, have your home burned to the ground, and your family viciously molested.

Now that we have that clarified you should know that Jesus told us it is going to get worse, much worse!

How is that even possible? In order for it to get worse it has to increase exponentially, globally, and that is exactly what is coming; much like what Noah and Lot’s neighborhoods experienced, judgment. But there is hope, and Peter give us two scriptural reasons for that hope that we are to be rescued from the “great tribulation” that is coming.

1 Peter 2:21 .. Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example..”

2 Peter 2:9 CJB “So the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and how to hold the wicked until the Day of Judgment while continuing to punish them,”

 I have to interject a comment for my detractors. We are not, as a general rule, escaping from the daily idiocy of brutal god haters. I understand that, and I believe that most of you understand that concept as well.

 Mary and Joseph escaped the slaughter that Herod was about to bring, thanks to an angel’s warning (sent by God), by going to Egypt. I would not go there now, but perhaps you get the picture. If I could tell you where there was a safe place to run I would. At the moment the United States is not experiencing the onslaught of brutality against Christians, but we are on the verge, and I do not believe that this country will stay safe for much longer.

 Here is the context of 1 Peter 2:21:

1 Peter 2:19-21 CJB For it is a grace when someone, because he is mindful of God, bears up under the pain of undeserved punishment. (20) For what credit is there in bearing up under a beating you deserve for doing something wrong? But if you bear up under punishment, even though you have done what is right, God looks on it with favor. (21) Indeed, this is what you were called to; because the Messiah too suffered, on your behalf, leaving an example so that you should follow in his steps.

 If you are minding your affairs, and living out your “Christ like” ways, whether verbally, or otherwise, then you are doing right, because, aside from being contrary to religious demands, Jesus did not go about stealing, killing and maiming others with car bombs. He went about doing good and healing all that were afflicted by the devil. To be accosted for doing good is a demonstration of Satan’s hatred for anything that looks like God, and there are plenty of people who thrive on maliciousness to fulfill Satan’s demands.

 If we cannot escape from life’s common and daily brutality then what are we hoping in?

1 Peter 1:3 CJB Praised be God, Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who, in keeping with his great mercy, has caused us, through the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah from the dead, to be born again to a living hope,

 A hope that is alive, guaranteed, fresh, clean, constant, never running out, AND NOT A FALLACY. I am telling you this because someone has to have a backbone, declaring that God is not a made up fictional story. THIS IS REAL, AND REALITY. Jesus had a backbone, and used it to declare, I am going to prepare a place for you, if it were not so I would have told you. (John 14:2)

 Dear Lord he is real! How can I get you to see that. This is exactly what the writer of Hebrews was telling us when he described:

Hebrews 11:35-38 NIV Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. (36) Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. (37) They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated– (38) the world was not worthy of them.

 How do you face all this abuse, with a mindset that this world is not worthy of you, without having a solid hope that what God said is true.

 Consider what we are reading, 1 Peter. He is trying to re-establish HOPE in us; that said, there is good news.

  1. We have hope!. Why? Because Jesus died and rose, as he said. Granting us a place with him in glory.
  2. We also have the promise of being caught up and rescued. Peter was very clear, using Noah and Lot as examples of God deliverance of righteous men from the destruction was about to happen upon the earth. Lot specifically has the angels tell him we can do nothing until you are out of here. At which point they physically removed his family from the place. (Jesus made you the righteousness of God when you accepted him as yours.)
  3. Nothing can damage or disrupt our destination, heaven. There is the implication here that nothing should be able to damage or cause to fade away, your rightful anticipation of a future glory.
  4. God has an established a track record of faithfulness. To those who scoff: Jonah, the prophet, was told to go to Nineveh and declare their doom. Judgment was coming. But he fought against God, because, if you read the story, Jonah had said “you will show them mercy and not do what you say.” How would Jonah have known that God was willing to show people who deserved judgment, mercy? A proven track record! The people of Nineveh repented and God did just that, showing them mercy, that is, until many years later they reverted back to their godless state and they were turned to powder, just as he said and in the way he said it.

Enough with the introductory speech, let’s get to the meat.

 1 Peter 1:5-7 NIV who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. (6) In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. (7) These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

  I almost think it would be more correct to show who the “who” is in verse 5. Peter starts this letter off by addressing the Mediterranean Churches, but he also uses the term “the elect of God”. That term alone takes all of us in, for it means those chosen by God, and we all fit that category. There is no benefit to a social class going on here.

I had the opportunity to stand in as bible study leader on a couple of occasions. On one of those, an educated man, an educator, supposedly a member of our Church, rejected what was being said, by pointing out that the Apostle Paul was writing to a specific body of people, and not intended for us today. While I understand the logic, I also know that all scripture is inspired and useful for building up (2 Timothy 3:16). Is it possible that building up also conveys the giving of hope. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, therefore the two are intertwined, just as these letters, compiled into what we call a bible, written to Church bodies long since gone, are meant for our benefit too. I had to disagree with the man for he was speaking explicitly about the book of Romans. Dear Lord that book alone is a foundation of who we are in Christ, and how God sees us. It is in the Letter to the Romans that the declaration is made: Jesus, died for a world undeserving, freeing it from the bondage of the sin debt that it owed. How does one support some form of exclusivity with a statement like that?

 “who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”

 “who through faith are shielded by God’s power” – Let us ponder this for a moment.

Faith is the basis for this, much like a Chef that uses chicken stock as the starting point for they are cooking. It just makes everything taste better. OK, that was overly simplified. It says that we that have come to know God’s love and have a relationship with him, through faith are shielded by God’s power. But is it our faith? Yes, and yet at the same God’s faith.

 Our faith struggles and often falters, while God’s faith is boundless and unfaltering. My faith seems, at times, to be small, barely holding on, while God’s is like the mountain that I am barely holding on to, and that is what makes this concept of being shielded because of faith an odd picture for me, because if God shields me according to my faith, then I am doomed, and doesn’t that put us back into the competitive playing field where some great TV evangelist, who declares his great faith, and has the money to back it, stands a greater chance of being shielded than I do. Not at all.

 My faith toward this: hope/salvation/shielding, and really the outcropping of his love toward us, may have started as a small mustard seed, but has clearly grown. How big? I do not know, but it is definitely bigger. Maybe my faith is now as big as a small seedling that has just emerged from the ground, it does not matter, for this really is about you having applied enough faith to accept God’s love toward you. (That in itself is a mountain if you really think about it, but all you had to do was step on the first rock, on your way up, and trust that it would support you, and it did.)

 God, who is the one with the Lion’s share of faith, has no trouble applying that faith toward you. So it is working from two directions. You receiving and him retrieving.

 What are we shielded from?

That is a great question. Obviously not everyday life, which often includes emotional turmoil, daily stresses, and deathly tribulations.

What! Do not get me wrong, God steps into our lives on a daily basis, shielding us and we did not even know it. I was stupid enough to verbally tangled with some drunk guys who came into the store one late evening. I have no idea what they could have done, most of the people who come in to shop have some sort of knife on them. The point is I may have been shielded. I have also had the annoyance of missing my turn to get on the freeway, only to find that during that time that I was trying to get back on the freeway I missed being involved in a horrific car crash, and I might have been in the middle of it. You have no idea how many times God has shielded you already.

 But everyday affairs is not what we are talking about here. Look again at 1 Peter 1:3,4 “.. he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,…” (4) “..an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,..”

While the NIV translation uses the term shielded, the King James version uses the term kept. The Greek word is: phroureō, and means: to guard, protect by a military guard, and to prevent hostile invasion

This is all about being shielded from what is coming during the Great Tribulation, and if we take the admonition from Peter seriously, then we can say that God is protecting us in a militaristic fashion. In other words, he is very serious about this concept of keeping us safe while awaiting our salvation.

 I just had a small discussion with my mother. I was trying to show her something I noticed in scripture that intrigued me, and she, as usual, developed that into a bizarre, generalized statement about tribulation, noting that people everywhere are going through it. What I noticed about her comment was the same thing I hear most people say, and that is that tribulation is constant and an aspect of God’s coming. While that is true, tribulation is all around us, it is not the Great Tribulation that Jesus, shockingly stated, would be something that no one would survive if God did not shorten time, and he will.

 Tribulations, or afflictions are really quite common.

2Corinthians_6:4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,

1Th_3:3 That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.

2Ti_1:8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

2Ti_3:11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.

2Ti_4:5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

Heb_10:32 But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;

Heb_10:33 Partly, whilst ye were made a gazing stock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.

1Pe_5:9 Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

Peter tells us that we are protected “until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” The (CJB) puts it this way, “Meanwhile, through trusting, you are being protected by God’s power for a deliverance ready to be revealed at the Last Time.”

Salvation is the Greek word sōtēria and means 1) deliverance, preservation, safety, salvation

1a) deliverance from the molestation of enemies

How many ways can I say this. It is God’s intent to deliver us prior to any judgment coming.

Rejoice in this, even though you have to experience grief through trials.

1 Peter 1:6 CJB Rejoice in this, even though for a little while you may have to experience grief in various trials.

If I have any reason to rejoice, it is in the fact that there is a salvation. An obvious fact is that Christians have looked for his coming for two thousand plus years. I do not see that as a negative but an act of living in positive anticipation, which is what we have been called to do. I can tell you what it has done in me just within the past two years. It has changed me and my way of thinking. Everyday is much more exciting to me, for I now watch and wait for him. This anticipation has my changed my approach to prayer. I have become less afraid of what man can do to me, and much more bold in sharing what I now consider a passion of mine. I have gained a greater understanding of what Islam believes, and take their impact on the world very seriously.

 “…even though for a little while you may have to experience grief in various trials…”

I am hoping by now that God’s intent is clear; he is very focused on pulling those that remain, out of here before unleashing his fury upon the earth. Using Lot as an example, I feel confident in saying that he will send his angels and escort you, should you move to slowly.

By the way, God’s desire is that every man come to a knowledge of him, and he is not changing his mind about that, but the world’s choice to blatantly ignore his offers of mercy will not prevent his judgment from coming.

We already touched on Jonah’s angst over this merciful aspect of God. Jonah clearly had a prejudice against these people, and wanted the people of Nineveh gone. Did you ever wonder why? I have heard things put out there as a motivation for Jonah’s hatred of these people, such as offering their children as sacrifices, but history records that they were a violent people.

(Nahum 3:1 Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims!); the wall carvings represent the king in the act of putting out his captives’ eyes, and dragging others by a hook through the lips and a cord. Other cities have revived, but Nahum foretells “there is no healing of thy bruise” (From Fausset’s Bible Dictionary)

In spite of depravity, these people repented at the prophetic word from God, and God relented from bringing destruction upon them. (They were eventually wiped off the map.)

…you may have to experience grief in various trials…

While I came off rather hard-core about tribulations, there are certainly things in life that will throw us completely off kilter. I am going through one as I write this.

Vine’s New Testament Words defines grief as “pain,” of body or mind.

Well, I am there, and I, especially with my rants about what tribulations really are, keep thinking that these things that bring me emotionally down, distracting me from daily function, are “light afflictions.”

Look, if the same word for trials is tests then ask yourself who is doing the testing? God? I do not think so. Consider that while the world was messed up and hopeless, unable to even understand love, God sent his own Son to die for us. Why then would he abuse us?

No, I think that the testing comes more from the world and Satan’s direction than God’s. Sure, from a human standpoint I would want to know where your allegiance lies, but God was not concerned about that at all when he gave us life.

Why would Satan be interested in testing us? He probably isn’t, but then there is that Job episode. The whole basis for Satan attacking Job seemed to be in his belief that Job would turn his back on God. Isn’t that what Satan did?

So this brings me to another struggle that we Christians bang our heads into quite often. How far can we go and lose our salvation, our place in the kingdom? Honestly, I do not know. I know how far I have gone, and I can tell you that God was never out of my thinking. Jesus told us that no one can take those that belong to the Father out of his hand. Well I suppose then the question would be, how do I know I am in his hand? If you have accepted that he poured out his grace toward you and has a place for you in his kingdom, then you are his. Plain and simple. Reject that completely and God help you. I do know what the god of this world’s destiny is, and not because of love, he is taking people there with him.

I think the bottom line here is that Satan is attacking anything that looks and acts like God. If he can shut you up or get you to stop responding, as you are focused upon your own pain then he has done what was needed, and taken you out of the fight. What are we fighting for? Souls.

1 Peter 1:7 LITV so that the proving of your faith, much more precious than perishing gold, but having been proved through fire, may be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

 so that the proving of your faith, much more precious than perishing gold, but having been proved through fire

The NIV states that these varied trials have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

The Source of Testings

The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament

Copyright © 1993 by Craig S. Keener

Jas_1:12. James uses the beatitude form common in ancient literature, especially Jewish literature: “How happy is the person who….” Distresses were viewed as temptations, providing opportunities to sin. The term translated “trials” (NASB, TEV; cf. NIV) or “testing” did not necessarily mean “temptation” (KJV, NRSV) in the modern sense, however; the tester could be interested in the distressed person’s perseverance, rather than his or her defeat. Famines, poverty and oppression were among events viewed as testings.

Jas_1:13-16. God clearly “tested” people in the Bible and later Jewish literature (Gen_22:1; Deu_8:2; Deu_13:3; Jdg_2:22), but he never tested them in the sense that is implied here: seeking for them to fail instead of persevere.Jewish texts distinguished between God’s motives in testing people (in love, seeking their good) and Satan’s motives in testing them (to make them fall). In most Jewish texts, Satan (also called Belial and Mastema) fills the role of tempter. Although James does not deny Satan’s indirect role (Jas_4:7), he emphasizes here the human element in succumbing to temptation. He personifies “desire” (NIV, NRSV, TEV) or “lust” (KJV, NASB) as enticing a person, then illegitimately conceiving the child “sin,” which in turn brings forth “death”; Jewish teachers occasionally applied the rhetorical technique of personification to the “evil impulse” all people had.

I so want this aspect to be exclusively testing by Satan. Perhaps because school was not easy for me, and it seems that I have failed so many of life’s tests that have been thrown at me. I would not want to fail God’s test as well. The absurdity of this thought continually takes me back to a God that loved me when I was unlovely, and gave his life for me.

Satan, however might well test us to see if we will collapse under the stresses of battle. I have been reading a book about the battle for Iwo Jima while writing this paper. One of things you see is men conceiving great goals for the day, only to squeak out mere yards in their advance toward the goal. Marines, in the initial attacks died steadily, averaging one about every 50 seconds, and yet they did not give up. Sadly, even the frightened, emotionally stressed, who in one case sat in the bottom of a shell crater sobbing, incapable of attack, had a mortar land between his feet, exploding, and ending his life. The enemy is indiscriminate about who they mark for destruction. In the case of Satan, it would seem that even the representation of God upon a human life is a target.

Considering the volume and quantity of testing we take from him, it is easy to relate it to being proved through fire.

Proving is equal to refining, and though God might certainly want to do that with many of us, me included, there is the possibility that even Satan’s fire has the ability to refine if we will respond appropriately and let it.

Posted in End times, Hope, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

An address to strangers

Posted on 12/10/2011 by remso

 

English: Political map of Asia Minor in 500 BC

Image via Wikipedia

I may not know you, but God does.

A study or perhaps I should say a look at the letters of the Apostle Peter. Apparently, this will be a series.

We will be looking at 1 Peter 1:1-3

Often my writings are based upon some recent sermon or a conversation that has evoked some reaction in me. Not having any recent ammo, I decided it is time to start reading through some of these letters to believers, we refer to as books of the bible. I happen to be looking at Peter, and as my habit, I slowly ponder just about everything I read. So here goes.

1 Peter 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 

Immediately I am struck by the word strangers. It seems that so many of these new testament letters we read were written to a body that the writer had contact with at some point. Peter seemed to know that this letter would be distributed to people he would never know or meet, and I think it conveys the sense that it needed to be.

 To be scattered implies a couple of things to me.

  1. They have run for their lives or,

  2. the gospel is spreading.

No doubt both are happening.

The Apostle Paul moved on from towns where he experienced tremendous persecution on several occasions, and he was run out-of-town as well. There is a piece of me that thinks you are supposed to stand there and take whatever abuse they dish out, as a testimony about the God you serve.

(I honestly believe that many of my broken ideas about how life operates come from the “religious” ideas of my mother. An example of that is turning the other cheek, as I was punished for attempts at defending myself. If mother had her way you would stand there and let someone slap you until you are spinning like a top. The illogical aspect of that might be seen in sending servicemen to war with no bullets, better yet, no guns, as God would not want you to fight back, because it might have been god’s will that you get your face punched in so he could teach you something. Do you know what that creates? Angry monsters.)

You have no idea how bitter life was as a child, nor, unless I tell you, do know what kind of damage religiosity did to me.

I know that Jesus gave the command to Mark 16:15 MKJV .. “Go into all the world, proclaim the gospel to all the creation.” I tried that when I was younger, but I was shy and fearful of the world. On one occasion our little youth group, of which I never fit in, went knocking on neighborhood doors, trying to “win the lost”. A hippie answered (that is what we called anyone with long hair back then), and he politely turned us away. That youth group, because of his rejection, accosted him with loud rants of “you are going to hell”. This all seemed to happen fairly quickly and I just stood there saying nothing, intimidated. Those that I had deemed cool and previously wanted to be like, all walked off the porch; he turned to look at me and said, what have you got to say. All that came out of me was, “I am so sorry.” I am now quite positive that Jesus would not have done that.

If you think you are seeing Jesus get angry with people in scripture pay attention to who he is angry with; it is always religious people who think they know everything and really have no place for God or humility. Why would I include the word humility in that? Because the opposite, pride, will not step out-of-the-way and give God his say or control. Jesus stood before learned men. They knew the law, but then so did He; he spoke it into existence. They may have known the law, but they did not know God. He was standing right in front of them.

I get excited about the God I have come to know and I probably project my form of excitement toward those that I get a chance to talk with. I desire to get those that will listen to me excited too. So I am disappointed when Christians have no wish to talk about the living God. There is a young man at work that comes into my department and saw me reacting to the barrage of stress that I deal with daily. He commented to me one day, “I never would have guessed that you were a Christian.” Well, I am, and now that we have this understanding of who we might be, I, thinking that I have someone who I can now talk to about things of God, got disheartened and baffled when he showed no interest. My girlfriend says it’s just you and your style of speaking.

Do you not realize that who you are today is the result of yesterday’s life experiences. God knows that. He knew that before he made the world, brought you salvation, and sent his Son to die for you. If someone thinks that you are unacceptable, they will be judged for that, but God is not judging you, he is the one that actually loves you. Besides that, God has just the right niche for you to fill. Your personality is the perfect match to reach someone who I cannot. God knows exactly what he is doing, regardless of what someone thinks about you.

 1 Samuel 16:7 GNB But the LORD said … I do not judge as people judge. They look at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart.”

 1 Peter 1:2

I am going to give a couple of versions of this. 1. Because some might read the terminology and say, “that is not me he is talking to.” and 2. I want this to make sense to you.

1 Peter 1:2 KJV Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

1 Peter 1:2 CEV God the Father decided to choose you as his people, and his Spirit has made you holy. You have obeyed Jesus Christ and are sprinkled with his blood. I pray that God will be kind to you and will keep on giving you peace!

1 Peter 1:2 NIV (the strangers scattered) who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance. [Italics mine]

I have used the King James Version lately because this particular bible has cross-references that I find beneficial. In reading out of the KJV I am particularly aware of the word elect in verse two. I try to keep in mind that even though a word may strike me odd and may make sense standing alone, it is typically part of an entire thought, and often easily explained in light of the overall point the writer was making.

Learning is a daily process, and if you are honest you will agree that you are never done. I learn more about Him every day, and that brings me great joy. The last thing I want is for you to hit a roadblock that causes you to stumble.

Why would you stumble at something that brings your freedom?

I spent a tremendous amount of time growing up inside a church building; that is not necessarily a bad thing. Sadly though, the church also had its share of mean people, and they seriously scarred me; add to that, the teachings I encountered, later in life, in which they conveyed that God demonstrates his love based upon how much money you have. Oh brother!

The most powerful woman who I ever heard of, sits upon a grass mat, gathers enough sticks each day to sell a few, buy a handful of rice to cook and eat, and knows with confidence that God is more than enough. I am in awe of her, for she is the elect that Peter speaks of.

 I submitted other versions 1 Peter 1:2 because in a sense each one of these conveys this message. It is not about what you think you are, but about what God has made you be, His son. You see, whether you know it or not God chose you.

 “..through the sanctification of the spirit.”

Peter explained this himself, but studying these concepts out can do you a world of good. These elect, are so not because of noble birth, the amount of money they have, or election by popular vote, but because God chose them. There was nothing about them that is any better that you. The apostle Paul in the eighth chapter of his letter to the Romans tells us this. Paul also said in Romans 5:8 .. “that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” God put himself upon that cross at a time when there was NO ONE worthy. We are all on the same playing field.

Sanctification was the terminology used to describe objects used in the temple worship (in the desert journey it was an elaborate tent setup) and meant those things that were specifically set aside for Godly usage (cups, bowls, tables, etc.). This sanctification happened through a process of cleansing, which included the sprinkling of the blood of the slain sacrificial lamb, the only thing that could remove sin. Jesus became that lamb, just for us. Therefore God, through the voluntary actions of Jesus, has done just that for and with us. He has cleansed us and set us apart for restoring relationships with us.

I hope you get it. God wanted someone to share his life with and made the earth and the glory of it all, to show his love. Therefore we can come to know and understand that there really is hope and a future with the creator.

 Jeremiah 29:11 NIV For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

I did not want to oversimplify sanctification but you have the essentials before you here. Part of this process of sanctification conveys obedience. The priests, walking around in the desert, had to be obedient to instructions and so did Jesus. Look at these passages in the letter to the Hebrews with me.

 Hebrews 9:11-14 NIV But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle (some versions say tent) that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. (12) He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. (13) The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. (14) How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

 Hebrews 9:21-23 NIV In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. (22) In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. (23) It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

You really need to invest some time reading the ninth chapter of the book of Hebrews. God is telling you precisely what Jesus did on our behalf, how God now sees us, and why. If Jesus had not been obedient, this place would be just as in the days of Noah (read Jesus comment in Matthew 24). When God destroyed the earth the thoughts and intent of man’s heart was only evil, and the earth was filled with violence. This scenario is like a bad scene from your worst nightmare. Only now we all have nuclear weapons. Those that survive a nuclear war will find little left that is usable to enjoy. Fortunately, WE HAVE HOPE, and his name is Jesus Christ.

Posted in Hope, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Carried off by force

Posted on 12/06/2011 by remso

As I have been trying to reconcile the many concepts of the rapture (pre, mid, etc.) in my mind I am hitting stumbling blocks. I have not changed my mind about the rapture, and our escape from the Great Tribulation period, but the timing seems to be paper thin, and is making the other theories at least a little more understandable. I am not sure what I thought the timing would be, but I sure did not get the impression that we, the church, would witness the entrance of the “the beast”.

An example of this paper thin timing, and the entrance of the beast, is the statement Paul made in his letter to the Thessalonian church.
2 Thessalonians 2:3 KJV (3) “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;”
I have many translations and almost all have included the words, “that day shall not come” in italics to indicate that they added them for clarity sake, but what day are we waiting for? The day of the Lord. But I thought we were waiting for the rapture, not destruction. The son of perdition has many names throughout scripture, the beast is one of them, so don’t get all bent out of shape over that.

Read what the prophets of God had to say about the day of the Lord:
Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from

the Almighty shall it come. (Joel 1:15 KJV)

Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand– a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was in ancient times nor ever will be in ages to come. (Joel 2:1-2 NIV)

That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and sorrow, a day of wasting and destruction, a day of dark night and deep shade, a day of cloud and thick dark. (Zephaniah 1:15 BBE)

See, the day of the LORD is coming –a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger– to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it. (Isaiah 13:9 NIV)

There is not a thing about these passages that seem to bring me great peace for they all portray God’s judgment upon the earth; they all portray the destruction that I have come to recognize with the seven week period in which Israel signs the peace treaty, the antichrist is predominant, and beheadings are the latest craze.
Nor do I feel as though I have a better comprehension about the rapture if I focus on them alone. Truth be known I think it confused me more, and God is not the author of confusion, therefore I keep going back to Jesus words, and you cannot argue with the statements that Jesus made.

In Matthew 24:37 Jesus said it would be as in the days of Noah, so ask yourselves, what do you know about Noah?: The thoughts of man were continually evil, violence filled the earth, and God shut Noah and his family, up in the ark before the floods came.
God seperated Noah’s family from the destruction. Peter, in his second letter, uses Noah as well, but adds righteous Lot into the mix as examples of God rescuing the righteous from destruction.
We briefly touched upon Noah, so let’s touch upon Lot since he is given for consideration. Peter calls him a righteous man, and although I strain to see that in him, God did. It is the final aspect of the Lot story that is hugely significant. When Lot and his family slow down packing their things and getting out, the angels had to remove them, saying “we can do nothing as long as you are here”. Read the story here:

With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.” When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you wThe Destruction Of Sodom And Gomorrah, a paint...ill be swept away!” But Lot said to them, “No, my lords, please! Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it–it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.” He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.) (Genesis 19:15-22 NIV)

I will tell you this, when I find myself confused, I run to Matthew 24:37, and 2Peter 2:7; primarily because Jesus said it, but also because Peter backed it up, and added one other witness. Now if you know your bible then you know that a thing must be established by at least two witnesses and we have them here, therefore I have my anchor, but I think that this concept of snatching should be more predominant. If not, how do you explain all the preaching and teaching, and wrong ideas that has inundated us since Christ left the earth.

Wishing to gain as much understanding as possible I read from the notes section of my study bible. The Life application study bible attempts to define the term: “The day of the Lord” as that period of time when the Lord openly intervenes in the affairs of men, when man’s day has closed. It will be inaugurated with the rapture of the Church.”
(I do not hold strongly to the commentaries, but use them as aids. I really am looking the Holy Spirit to open this up to me. I am also a firm believer in applying logic and reasoning, therefore is something man says, is not reasonable then I challenge it with God’s word. If I feel that God’s word is not reasonable then I challenge myself to understand it.)

Some have read the passage in 2Thessalonians 2:3 and concluded that the antichrist personage has to show up first and then we are removed from the scene. What is the logic and reason that you can apply to this thinking. If the man of perdition is reavealed then that would mean that:
1. He is most likely here and ready to emerge.
2. We, the church, will probably be aware of who he is.
3. And the most painful path of reason is that because of what he does during the seven years, we will most likely see evidence of that beginning to take place.
Consider this, in reading about the battle for Iwo Jima, during WWII, even though this was only a piece of the war, the logistics it took to make that battle happen were mountainous. Do you not consider that the events happening in the world today are nothing more than logistics. God is making everything fall into place, and foolish minded men think that this is their doing.

I think I can see the problem and the source of confusion.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 NIV (1) Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, (2) not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us–whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter–asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. (3) Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.

Perhaps the confusion exists because there is a context issue when using 2Thessalonians 2:3 as a stand alone verse. The context really begins within the first chapter. In the first chapter Paul begins talking about the persecutions these people are suffering, and an appropriate way for them to look at those afflictions, but as with every other book of the bible, there is an integration of the conversation into end times salvation and the day of the Lord.
2 Thessalonians 1:4-10 NIV (4) Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. (5) All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. (6) God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you (7) and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. (8) He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. (9) They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might (10) on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.

While we, in the “modern church” are looking for an escape, this body was in it deep. Deep enough for Paul to attempt to encourage them, and by extension, encourage us. In 2Thessalonians 1:6 Paul states, it is “a just thing with God to pay back tribulation to the ones troubling you,”. When is that going to happen? On the day of the Lord, a time of judgment and gloom, and none of us associate our relief from this present world with a time of horror, and yet at the same time as the horror to come we have this admonition –
2Thessalonians 1:7 “to those afflicted, relief with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from Heaven with the angels of His power,”.

Again, I would like to be able to demonstrate a significant separation between our rapture (I assume our rapture here) and the day of the Lord, in which he brings pay back to those that have afflicted us, but look at verse 8 there is no break in thought, those angels mentioned a moment ago are coming with flaming fire.
2 Thessalonians 1:8 LITV (8) in flaming fire giving full vengeance to those not knowing God, and to those not obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Isaiah 66:15 NIV See, the LORD is coming with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind; he will bring down his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.

Jeremiah 10:25 NIV Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the peoples who do not call on your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him completely and destroyed his homeland.

It is difficult to understand how some of this vengeance does not splash over on us, unless we who belong to Him, at that time, are removed from harms way. This is exactly what Peter was talking about when he described how God rescued Lot and Noah, and he will rescue us.

Here are other passages in which I find demonstrable hope, not necessarily a huge separation from the grief to come, but salvation none the less.

1 Thessalonians 1:10 CEV (10) … you are waiting for his Son Jesus to come from heaven. God raised him from death, and on the day of judgment Jesus will save us from God’s anger.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 NIrV (9) God didn’t choose us to receive his anger. He chose us to receive salvation because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done.

Romans 5:6-9 NIrV At just the right time Christ died for ungodly people. He died for us when we had no power of our own. (7) It is unusual for anyone to die for a godly person. Maybe someone would be willing to die for a good person. (8) But here is how God has shown his love for us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (9) The blood of Christ has made us right with God. So we are even more sure that Jesus will save us from God’s anger.
One last thing crosses my mind as I write this, and just so you know, I write this because I believe that if I struggle then someone else does also.

Look at this:
Ephesians 2:4-10 NIV But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, (5) made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved. (6) And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, (7) in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (8) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– (9) not by works, so that no one can boast. (10) For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Colossians 2:6-13 NIV So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, (7) rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (8) See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. (9) For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, (10 KJV) And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: (11) In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, (12) having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. (13) When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,

Jesus, was brutally murdered for our sins, rose from the dead to bring us new life with the Father, and he volunteered to let that happen; why? For you alone! Through our acceptance of that act of salvation we are placed in him.
Will God brutally punish the Son anymore? Absolutely not, and we are in Him, therefore he is not going to pour out judgment upon us either.
He is the King; he is majesty; he is upholding all things by his word, and he is our mediator, presenting himself on our behalf. He is the King of glory, and he has sat down, next to the Father, awaiting all things to fall into place, so that at the appropriate time he can present us, the bride, adorned for her husband.

Hebrews 1:2-3 KJV Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; (3) Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

If there is a logical path here, it is that if we are in Christ then we are not to be subject to what is to come. Make a distinction, the Great Tribulation includes the time of God’s judgment upon the earth. Read Revelation chapter 6 onward and you will find the wrath of the seals, bowls, and trumpet judgments upon the earth. This is all happening during the seven years called the great tribulation. It also includes the horrors that man places upon man. Driven by Satan in a last ditch attempt to conquer anything that looks like Jesus Christ, he empowers men with the same powers he tempted Jesus with after the wilderness experience. These man on man events are covered by the acts of the beast/antichrist, false prophet, and the harlot. I believe that I could make those characters much more realistic for you if time permitted.

My hope is that I have promoted God’s word, not only as a resource but life itself. He is life, and he is alive.

John 1:1-3 AMP IN THE beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. [Isa. 9:6.] (2) He was present originally with God. (3) All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being.

These following just excites me. Possibly because the thought that all anguish shall cease, and peace that I have never known will come, instantly.

I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed– in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
(1 Corinthians 15:50-58 NIV)

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
(1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NIV)

As the church throughout the ages has looked at it’s circumstances they have all said the rebellion is here. They might have been right, for I do not think that God looks at any of this as segmented time, it is just time, such as a day. And yet there is such a marked falling away today. Religious bodies that have been standards are giving in to pressure and allowing homosexuals to hold pastorates. Several generations of children have now grown with absolutely no desire to know God, and Islam is rising as the super power of religions and govermental authority. I believe that the time is now and the man is about to be revealed.

Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. (2 Thessalonians 2:3 NIV)

Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?
(2 Thessalonians 2:5 NIV)
Did Paul tell them this to encourage them of the hope to come, or to warn them? Knowing that persecution is coming can steele you against trouble. Someone or something has brought them doubt. That is really not necessary for it is man’s nature to doubt (we are of course still broken).

The last days are upon us. Look around you and see for yourselves. Jesus, the living one, is coming soon, I can feel it and see it. If you do not know him I strongly suggest that you humbly ask him into your life. Allow him the opportunity to reveal himself to you for things are only going to get worse. He loved you before you were born and gave his life to rescue and redeem you. In a sense you are his anyway. God bless.

Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted in End times, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Lord knows how to deliver the Godly.

Posted on 11/14/2011 by remso

A word study on the phrase “the day of the Lord” landed me here in 2Peter.

2 Peter 2:9-10 AMP Now if [all these things are true, then be sure] the Lord knows how to rescue the godly out of temptations and trials, and how to keep the ungodly under chastisement until the day of judgment and doom, (10) And particularly those who walk after the flesh and indulge in the lust of polluting passion and scorn and despise authority. Presumptuous [and] daring [self-willed and self-loving creatures]! They scoff at and revile dignitaries (glorious ones) without trembling,

(The Amplified bible places words in brackets and italics that they felt would enhance your comprehension of the subject matter. An example: “all these things are true, then be sure” is a reference to Peter’s address of Lot and Noah. Peter verbally demonstrated how God rescued them, therefore God has established a precedent, and will continue to rescue the godly.) While this passage takes in some clear aspects of end times (“the day of judgment and doom,”), there seems, in my mind, to be other things in the passage that can be tied into end times events too.

I had been involved in the faith movement for a short time. During that time I was excited to share what I had been learning with anyone who would listen. I went to a bible study one evening many years ago, and I spoke out in prayer over the life of a person who had requested prayer. Immediately after the prayer, and in front of everyone, I was verbally acosted, with the “leader” using 2Peter 2:11 (out of context) as his club of choice against me. Somehow he took passage this to mean that I had no right to speak against satanic influences in someone’s life. Having the room’s attention he made himself look very pious. I never went back. (This situation had the beginnings of a cult, as the leader reigned supreme and no one dared challenge him.)

A study of God’s word tends to demand that we examine the context of what is being said. That might even require that you back up a chapter or two to really understand the thought process of the writer. Peter, in this letter, shifts quickly between subjects (believers, Jews in general, and the nations) several times and requires our attention in discerning the focus of his attention. Think of this like a magician. A magician is able to do what they do primarily by distraction as fast movement tends to distract people, not because Peter is trying to deceive, but because different subjects, rapidly take center stage as he is delivering a message that the Holy Spirit wanted us to hear.

These two verses in particular intrigue me.

2 Peter 2:9-10 ASV the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment unto the day of judgment; (10 NIV) This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority.

There are those that seem to want to want to go through the tribulation, if not they strongly believe that we must all go through it, not just tribulation, but the GREAT TRIBULATION. My guess is that they feel that they must be punished, and we therefore, all have to be punished alongside them.

Perhaps they do not understand something; the day of the Lord, is a time period, not just a day. It is, in the majority of instances, a time of judgment upon the world. Contemplate this verse then if you choose not to believe that concept.

Isaiah 13:9 NIV See, the day of the LORD is coming –a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger– to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it.

God is not coming to have a picnic lunch with the Christian community on that day. He is coming with vengeance against those who have rejected him. While the verse does not exclude the possibility that Christians are in the land, it does say the sinners within it. In my mind, it would be easier to wipe out the sinners if I did not have to waste time dodging the Christians that are mingled amongst them. A person I know goes to church, primarily for the sake of her children, but takes every opportunity to hit the bars with her friends. Recently she made a public comment that she and company were at at the “Congregation”. Someone responded back to her with, “oh, you are at church?”. She replied, “yeah, and we are drinking some Jesus juice!”. Does she still belong to God regardless of where she is at? I believe so, but she is certainly blending in rather well with the “sinners” that will be destroyed.

I feel as though I have lived under a cloud of ignorance most of my life. I listened to, and adopted the mis-representations that people passed on to me about God; the worst being “God is mad at you”.

(Do not get me wrong! Jesus died that we might live, he is coming again for us that we might live with him, and he will judge the world for rejecting him. My misconceptions have been clearing up as I take the time to READ God’s word for myself.)

If you are going to lean toward your thesis that we all must go through the great tribulation then it would seem you are throwing many aspects of God’s word out the window. The Jews were bold enough to do that, and right in Jesus face. They stated, openly and boldly, that the works he did were of the devil; for that, Jesus called them blasphemous and warned them that they were in danger of hell’s fire.

(Long before modern day theologians got involved with God’s word the Jews firmly understood and believed that hell consisted of a fiery torment. The idea that many of you do not believe in hell is not going to negate its existence. Your arguments come off like this: Why would a loving God throw his own creation into a place like that? I suggest you rethink that question: Why would a God created being, with a free will, reject such tremendous love and grace by following Satan (the deceiver, and accuser of the saints; your surrogate father,) into hell, the place created for him?)

2Peter 2:9 Comes across so clear to me. The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation.

One might read that and think about some base, human desire as your temptation, but you could not be more wrong. Remember we are thinking context. The word translated temptation is peirasmos, and means a trial or proving.

Now what would God be trying to prove?

God does not have to prove anything, he is though allowing the world the opportunity to return his love back. If you are his (that would have happened as you put your trust in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.) then you have become the Godly and removed out of the proving that is the great tribulation. One might think that God is waiting for us to prove our love for him. The answer to that lies in Paul’s letter to the Romans: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8 NIV)

Consider the possibility that there is a mis-representation of God’s intent behind this dark, bloody period that is coming – the day of the Lord. What if God in his mercy is still trying every means possible to demonstrate that His word is true, therefore believable, and that there is still an opportunity to come to Him. John tells us that an uncountable number of people do come (Revelation 7:9,10), therefore the period called “the day of the Lord” is yet another drive to save those that will choose to see the truth. One of those mis-representations is tied in with the Prophet Joel. He wrote: “The day of the LORD is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it? “Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. … “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. (Joel 2:1-30 NIV – I have greatly shortened the reading, but I encourage you to read it in it’s entirety.)

“The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of trials”

If the game plan is one in which the rapture takes place first, then the next events that are to happen will be the entrance of the anti-christ/beast, the false prophet, the peace treaty with Israel, the great tribulation, the beheading of those who stand for Christ, Jesus return to earth, and judgment. I did not mention that this event (the rapture) seems to be associated with a time of chaos and confusion. This is also what Islam believes, and the Iranian President believes that it is his calling to bring about this chaos.

Why would there need to be a peace treaty with Israel if there is no war or perhaps an impending threat of war? Yes, the middle east is awash in warfare as we speak, but this war has to be significantly different. Scripture seems to describe two major wars. One we refer to as the battle of Armegeddon, the other will be at the end of the millineal reign (1000 year reign). It is probably safe to assume that a warfare of major proportion, directed against Israel, is looming on the horizon. You can expect to see 10 Islamic nations joined together in this venture. I feel strongly that you will see Iran, Ethiopia, Sudan, Chad, Somalia, Lybia, Tangiers, Algeria, Turkey (Turkey may include the southern muslim nations of the former Russian empire), possibly Iraq, and Egypt.)

“and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.”

The judgment then, or trial, would seem to focus on weeding out those who truly do not believe.

In one regard that would seem so obvious, to whom? You and I? As I sat in church recently, the preacher said, “who is the first person that comes to mind when you think of someone who given so much, helped so many, and asked for nothing?” The majority answer was Mother Theresa, and yet as I sat there I could remember the concepts taughts me that condemned that woman to hell because she was a Catholic, and not of OUR faith.

What does scripture say the requirements are? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved. The thief on the cross merely stated, “This man has done nothing wrong, and yet they are killing him; we have. Lord receive me into your kingdom.” His statement tends to imply that he had an understanding of what Jesus represented.

So if the day of the Lord, a time of judging and weeding out the bad from the good is what this is all about, how do you back this claim up.

In Revelation there is a white throne judgment.

Rev 20:11-12 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.

Daniel saw this time of judgment also, and what he and John both describe is God reading their lives back from the books.

God separates them into groups, and this is what happens. Look for the mercy of God in this.

Matthew 25:32-40 MSG Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, (33) putting sheep to his right and goats to his left. (34) “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. (35) And here’s why: I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, (36) I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me.’ (37) “Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? (38) And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ (40) Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me–you did it to me.’

Those that receive mercy seem to be shocked at the mercy of God, as they are granted entrance into the kingdom. The goats, those that showed no mercy upon others, on the other hand are sent into outer darkness, along with their leader, as God says: “depart from me, I never knew you.”

It seems that God has many names depending upon your nationality, understanding, and language. With Israel having only one language and understanding I suppose it was a little easier to say “tell them my name Yah Veh.” Islam believes that his name is Allah. I always thought of this as “Christian religion” standing there crying out “but Lord! What about these things we did.” Now I suspect that cults and false religions, who make their chants, hoping that a god will respond to them, might well be who he is talking about here.

The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation.

Peter intiated this conversation about God knowing how to save the righteous, by giving you examples of those previously delivered out of TRIALS. He uses “righteous” Lot, and Noah as a pattern. In legal terms we have a precedence.

Ponder the man Lot for a moment with me. You need to know straight out that I have heard plenty of sermons berating Lot for his decision to go to Sodom. Read the 13th chapter of Genesis.

Lot, Abraham’s nephew, is living among his uncle’s men and possessions and his workers are beginning to have clashes with Abraham’s workers. Not so much a rivalry as it is an expansion of businesses bumping into each other. Abraham gives Lot the option of taking the best land and moving on. (Note the quiet display of power when Abraham volutarily steps aside in humility, giving Lot the choice)

What does Lot choose? Sin city. He might as well have said “I am moving my operations to Las Vegas. How difficult would that be for someone to live there and not have a little of that rub off on you.

What do we know about Lot? Not much prior to Sodom and Gomorrah. We have no placid tales of him reading his torah by the streambank, dreaming about heaven, offering up sacrifices to the most Holy. What we do have is snapshots of him in Sodom, and the response of the men in town as he tries to calm them down. When the angels come to Sodom to get Lot where do they find him? Sitting in the gate. That might not seem like much, but that was typically a place comparable to the city council. He was sitting there in the decision making spot, making himself available. Does that make him a righteous man? Not at all, and yet Peter aligned him with God as a righteous man.

When the angels are brought to Lot’s home the men of town attempt to get at them. Lot speaks to the men who have come to have sex with the angels, and they respond to Lot saying, that they are not interested in him telling them what to do and how to live anymore. Intriguing isn’t it.

Genesis 19:9 LITV And they said, Stand back! And they said, This one came in to visit, and must he always judge?

One might think that with impending doom quickly headed his way, that Lot would make haste and leave, but that is not the case; the angels have to escort him, his wife and two daughters out of town. Why? Because they say, “we (the angels) cannot do anything until you are safely away from here.”

Genesis 19:22 LITV Hurry, escape there, for I am not able to do anything until you have come there. So the name of the city was called Zoar.

Does this speak to our theme: “then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials” absolutely.

Noah was our other example. Briefly: Noah, at God’s instruction builds an ark, because rain, something that none of them had ever experienced, was coming. God placed Noah in the ark, safe from the destruction that came quickly after that, and Noah was not touched by it. One might deem that a great tribulation, testing, or perhaps trial. It clearly was a judgment, and yet God was not the least bit interested in judging one of his righteous ones.

Genesis 7:16 MSG male and female of every creature came just as God had commanded Noah. Then GOD shut the door behind him.

“and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished;”
Jesus Christ’s life as a sacrifice was enough, there was no more sacrifice to be made on our behalf. On that day he purchased us out of bondage to sin and death, and released us from the demands for judgment against us, therefore God is not coming back to judge those who have received him; he is coming to judge the unjust. Beside that, if God were coming back to judge us horrid persecution, then since we are in Him (as Paul tells us), wouldn’t he then be coming back to judge his own Son?

Colossians 2:9-12 BBE For in him all the wealth of God’s being has a living form, (10) And you are complete in him, who is the head of all rule and authority: (11) In whom you had a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ; (12) Having been put to death with him in baptism, by which you came to life again with him, through faith in the working of God, who made him come back from the dead.

 “…and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment …”

The word unjust here is: ad’-ee-kos

By extension wicked; by implication treacherous. The NIV used the term unrighteous.

Webster’s defines unjust as those: acting contrary to the standard of right established by the divine law. Vines NT words states, “not in conformity with (Grk: dike) what is right.

Here we are, back to the age old question, right based upon what? The obvious answer to me is God’s word.

2 Peter 2:10 AMP And particularly those who walk after the flesh and indulge in the lust of polluting passion and scorn and despise authority. Presumptuous [and] daring [self-willed and self-loving creatures]! They scoff at and revile dignitaries (glorious ones) without trembling,

The word walk in Greek conveys the meaning of the general activities of life. This could apply to anyone, but this is speaking about leaders or teachers of God’s word. This is where context is important. Looking 2Peter 2:1-3 Peter switched from writing about false prophets of the past to false teachers in the present, their teaching was the same-heresy. Peter tells us that the false teachers will introduce destructive heresies. Have you ever wondered what in the world is a heresy. As Easton’s bible dictionary puts it, it is as simple as a choice or an opinion. Now could it be so bad to have choices? It could be detrimental if the choice leads you off a cliff. We are not talking about choosing a car color here. A teacher, bringing in some other choice or opinion, clouds the truth that is in God’s word. Then you find yourself doubting whether God really intends to rescue you, as Peter was teaching, or will he leave you to suffer. If I can get you confused on this issue of salvation then in time I can have you doubting that God is even real.

In the past there were false prophets among God’s people. It is the same now. You will have some false teachers in your group. They will teach things that are wrong–ideas that will cause people to be lost. And they will teach in a way that will be hard for you to see that they are wrong. They will even refuse to follow the Master who bought their freedom. And so they will quickly destroy themselves. (2 Peter 2:1 ERV)

 2Peter 2:9-10 (ERV)…And the Lord will hold evil people to punish them on the day of judgment. (10)That punishment is for those who are always doing the evil that their sinful selves want to do. It is for those who hate the Lord’s authority. These false teachers do whatever they want, and they are so proud of themselves. They are not afraid even to say bad things against the glorious ones.

I have asked you to pay attention to context. 2Peter 2:1 states that there were false prophets among God’s people, just as there will be false teachers among us. Sadly that could be just about any of us, but look for the clues. What is that the flesh wants? To be in control. When man took on his new masters nature in the garden failure, selfishness became the theme of life. Yes, God gave us an out through his Son, but the struggle still remains. So the desire for control is common with man, therefore this is not necessarily a church leader as we might understand, but could easily be a “religious” leader.

2 Peter 2:1-6 NIV But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies [choice or an opinion], even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them–bringing swift destruction on themselves. (2) Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. (3) In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories, [and good-sounding arguments]. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. (4) For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; (5) if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; (6) if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;

 But there were also false prophets among the people,

Who were the people that Peter was referring to? Israel. Balaam is one predominant example of a false prophet. Balaam, was a prophet for hire and had been asked to curse Israel. God would not let him do it. He figured out a way to gain a profit and potentially circumvent God’s directive by giving this king the way to push God right out of Israel. He, by his instructions was able to bring about the downfall of Israel. God eventually had Balaam killed for what he did. Did Balaam, by his words and actions, lead Israel to their destruction? You bet he did; does this excuse Israel’s actions and responsibility? No way.

2 Peter 2:1 NIV But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them–bringing swift destruction on themselves.

 We just slid from prophets to teachers. In my mind the prophet carries a bit more weight, as they are generally perceived as speaking on God’s behalf, but doesn’t a teacher do that as well? Policemen break the laws too, and yet they represent the law of the state in which they serve. Are they to be held responsible for misrepresenting the state? You bet, just as a false teacher is held responsible by God for misrepresenting him. I can think of many bible teachers that might be deemed false, because they are misrepresenting God by teaching people to focus on money as a demonstration of God’s goodness toward you, when God’s word tells us that everything in the world is working in opposition to God. God has made it very clear that his goodness toward us is based upon his love toward us. He demonstrated that by the giving the very life of His son as the price for our redemption.

Let’s take this concept of false teachers a step further. I think that we, in the religious world, focus on false teachers within the church, but what if this is an outside influence. Islam, is a religion, and they are converting people at a rapid pace. People who convert are often saying, they want something with a strong moral structure, and Islam enforces that. There are of course liberties that a man can take that a woman can’t, such as, a woman has to have her body covered in public; a man can beat his wife for no reason at all, if he so chooses, but he will attribute the beating to some breach of the Qur’an, and Islamic men, in the name of Jihad (holy war) can rape christian women with no repercussion. So is Islam then covered under the blanket of false teaching? You bet. Do a little research into what they believe about Jesus, the Son of God (you won’t find that description in Islam). They do believe in an end time scenario just as we do. If you compare Islam to Christianity, it begins to sound like Satan copied everything God prescribes in scripture, with an evil and sinister twist, all in the name of destroying anything that looks, acts, and sounds like God or the Son. And by the way, it is all happening slowly, although I have seen a rapid acceleration, by attempting to change the opinions of people.

2 Peter 2:10 CEV The Lord is especially hard on people who disobey him and don’t think of anything except their own filthy desires. They are reckless and proud and are not afraid of cursing the glorious beings in heaven.

 The Amplified bible says they despise authority. The Grk word is: kataphroneō

Thayer Definition:

  1. to contemn, despise, disdain, think little or nothing of

The King James version says they “despise government”. What is government, but the ruling body. Webster’s defines it as control or restraint. I seriously doubt that there are too many of us, here in the United States, that are content with what the Obama administration is doing to us, with their medical plan and every other plan they are dishing out. In a word, most of us are despising government. If it were that simple.

  1. We have people walking after the flesh. Fulfilling their own desires and agendas.
  2. They are false teachers and in some cases prophets. I am telling you, keep a watchful eye on Islam (Islam fulfils one of the major themes in Revelation by providing a false prophet. His name is Isa or to gain your confidence, Jesus the son of Mary).
  3. They despise restraint. While that can apply to most anyone, the lack of restraint sounds more like a person despising God, and that is what Islam does. Don’t be mislead, they believe in one supreme being too, but his name is Allah, and he has no son.
  4. And though one translation says: despise government, the majority speak of cursing glorious beings in heaven. If the government is God, and we are not talking about prayer against Satan, then we are talking about people speaking out against God. That is really much to lite a way to put it. Scripture tells us that the anti-christ spews out abominations against God.

God made the angels and a third of them fell with Satan. Even though Michael and Gabriel are magnificent, they would tell you not to worship them. John got a taste of this when he was taken up into heaven.

What is left to despise in terms of glorious beings in heaven? God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Jews despised Jesus when they attributed his actions to the devil. They caught an earful on that one, as he called them blasphemous, and told them they were seriously close to hell’s fires. The beast/anti-christ/Mahdi/ and False prophet of Islam do just that, cursing God, his Son, and imitating God’s actions in an effort to lead people away from truth; this primarily after the rapture of the active church.

Chain of events, as I see it.

While we are seeing the fingerprints of Islam’s influence upon the world even now, the worst is yet to come. Islam is going to raise its ugly head even further. There will be a 10 nation Islamic confederation under the guise of global order, but there are two undertones that cannot be missed. One is the establishment of a global Caliphate; Islam is advocating this on a daily basis.The other is what some refer to as: “the new world order”. While masked in a cloak of economic success and free enterprise, it is a collection of powerful men, driving for a centralized, one world government where they control the people, and gain more wealth. This should not be a new thing to anyone, while we treat these clouded governmental concepts as we do “area 51”, something of a hoax, the men who have run this country have, with few exceptions, all have been associated with things like the Masons, or the Bohemian Woods. Meetings shrouded in secrecy where decisions are made there that circumvent the voice, and votes of the people. This idea of a new world order may fall under many names but the primary ideals are tied into man’s lust for money and power.

Revelation speaks of the harlot riding upon the back of the beast. (Read Revelation 17 – In it you find a description of the prostitute/harlot, what the true draw is, the global effect she has on the world’s leaders, and shock on the world’s face when they realize how they had been taken in by her.) Satan is the power and motivation behind all of this, but people will not see it. The Harlot then, is the drive for money and power under whatever guise you want to call it.(Revelation 17:5 seems to be screaming out the name and definition, calling the harlot BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF ALL WHOREDOMS. Folks, there has to be something here that God is wanting us to pay attention to. That term Babylon is used for several things, the primary aspect is the satanic spirit behind it.) One of the aspects of this meeting place in the Bohemian Woods is 20 foot tall, cement owl called Moloch – also rendered as Molech, Molekh, Molok, Molek, Molock, or Moloc. As a god worshipped by the Phoenicians, Moloch had associations with a particular kind of propitiatory child sacrifice to which the Jews fell prey and sacrificed their own children to. The Bohemian Woods is not a singularity, this kind of “retreat” can be found around the world, and they have been ongoing since the collapse of the Ottoman empire. One of the predominant players in this world of greed, power, and deceit is a Jewish man, that hates God and all he represents, named George Soros. In his attempts to control and gain wealth he has been a major player in the collapse of several national economies, and you will find his name in the headlines sporadically.

The nations rising against, and surrounding Israel, ten in particular; a possible atomic war against Israel; economic collapse; Islam taking control of nations at the same time; pure pandemonium, and the rapture of the church. Much of this will take place so quickly that many would call it simultaneous.

The Mahdi/the beast, and the anti-christ characters of scripture. He is a man, so do not go looking for some hideous creature; this guy will be charasmatic. He is a muslim, and a religious leader. He will make a peace treaty with Israel that allows for them to rebuild the temple. The peace treaty will be for a seven year period, which he himself will break at 3 and half years into it. Islam believes that the treaty will be bartered by a Jewish priest, this becomes significant when the false prophet becomes predominant. Things to note: Even though he is a religious leader, that is not his pure motive. He too is driven by control and power. Military might is his backbone, and he will use, for a time, the harlot of Revelation 17. He eventually destroys the harlot; that means that they (kings, governments, and their money) will be used and cast aside. If you look at the descriptions of the harlot you will see that wealth is a primary draw with her. Islam appears to shun wealth for spiritual status.

There is another beast/anti-christ that comes.

I saw another beast come from the earth, and it had two horns like a lamb. It talked like a serpent.(Revelation 13:11 GW)

Again I warn you, you are not looking for something hideously ugly. He will represent himself much like Jesus, the Son of God, might have when he walked this earth. Revelation even says he has two horns like a lamb. Who is the lamb of God? Jesus Christ the son, the one who became the sacrificial lamb. Islam describes this man in minutia. He will be a man, a Jew, a muslim, a Jewish high priest of Aaronic decent, that Islam calls by many names: Isa, and Jesus the son of Mary, being two of them. He will by virtue of his name, lineage, and by powerful signsdeceive many into following Islam, proclaiming Allah as the only true god. This is a hard one because I find it difficult to believe that anyone would follow after someone named Jesus in this day and age, especially if he suddenly shows up and does what this guy does. To follow someone like this demonstrates to me how little the world knows or cares about scripture.

  • This Jesus of Islam sets up the image of the beast, and causes it to speak. He will be the enforcer of Sharia law against any that refuse to commit to Allah, and demonstrate their allegiance by most likely wearing something that indicates such.

This entire scenario is horror to me and should be to you too, because of all the misrepresentations that God has had to endure, this is the worst. Jews, those that claim to have been looking for the conquering Messiah, will fall for this person’s deception, throwing logic and reason entirely out the window.

A Mormon man said to me, “doesn’t scripture tell us that God is the happy god?” While there is a passage that indicates that God has laughed at some point, he is coming back to this earth to judge it, and he is coming in rage and fury. At three and half years into the peace treaty with Israel the Mahdi breaks the treaty and Jews will be slaughtered. Only a handful will remain. The false prophet of scripture, this Jesus of Islam, will begin systematically killing those who refuse Allah.

Scripture says that nations will be flattened by earthquakes; the sky will go dark; celestial objects will strike the earth, and 100 pound hailstones will fall. (Try reading Revelation chapters 8, 9, 16) Yet people will still make it through, many cursing God as they go.

Jesus, the Son of God, the King of Ages, will come, plant his feet on the Mount of Olives, and split that mount in two. He will come with an army and there will be a great slaughter in the valley of Megiddo. (Some call that the battle of Armegeddon). For those of you who mock, saying I do not believe in your God, beside that I am homosexual and no harm to anyone. Trust me on this, Islam despises you as well. Islam will give you a choice, worship Allah or die. If you are homosexual you will be killed with no options for Allah does not tolerate that kind of behavior, and violent death is what the Qur’an prescribes for homosexuals.

One last thing you might take note of. If, and I believe that this is the way, the rapture of God’s church takes place, there will of course be about a billion people suddenly gone. Oh sure, you can blame it on aliens, but the thing to pay attention to is how quickly all these horrid things will suddenly fall into place. They are falling into place as you read this, assuming that we are not already gone.

While the Mahdi is making a treaty with Israel there will be two prophets from God standing in the streets of Jerusalem proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, the risen one. New life in him will still be available, and I would suggest that you grow a backbone and take advantage of that. No, there will be no opportunity for a rapture rescue, you are now going to have to take a strong stand against Islam’s Allah, and you will probably lose your head over it. Scripture tells us in Isaiah 13 that they (Islam) will smash your children’s heads against the stones in front of you. DO NOT ACCEPT ALLAH AS GOD. I am telling you, you can do this. The same Holy Spirit that has walked this earth, for all these years, compelling you to come to Christ while you had the chance at grace, will still be here, and scripture tells us that he will give you the strength to stand and the words to say. Do not be afraid. I know that is easy for me to say now for I am not facing violent death, nor having to watch my children held before me, screaming daddy, as I am pressured into giving into the worship of a false god, accepting some indicator, a mark that I have given in, and giving up my last chance in the hands of the merciful God, who created me, and sent his only Son to die that I could live. Take his hand, close your eyes, saying no to Allah, and yes to the one who loved you from the beginning of time, Jesus the Christ.

This all started with “the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of trials” and surely a bigger one is coming. I have been facing a hard, but minor one at work. Lot, live among these same people that wanted to take the angels and have sex with them; try telling me that was not difficult. Times will be difficult, that is a by product of broken people and the earth we live on. As long you have someone around you they have the potential to act out in their flesh, and the flesh is always selfish. The point in this is that God has not removed us from the daily grind, therefore there has to be something more. We look forward in hope toward our snatching away. 2 Peter is a very strong argument for this concept. Yes, I am painfully aware that believers, all over the, not so free world, are being tortured and killed on a daily basis. If God knows how to deliver the righteous then how about them? I do not have the answer to that, and reality that Christians suffer brutal things for their faith has been with us for as long as there has been Christianity. Paul, while his name was Saul, had to have stood among those crowds of pharisees as they taunted Jesus, declared his works to be of the devil, and attempted to kill him. After Jesus death, Saul the pharisee made it his goal to remove the pollution of Christianity from the earth. God stopped him, and made it clear that what he was doing, he was doing to Jesus. Look this up in Acts 9:4.

Paul later told us that we will suffer for our faith. God has given you the privilege not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for him. (Philippians 1:29 GW) What should I make of this? God’s gave us a hope, and false teaches have tried to strip that away. Always cling to hope and faith in His word. As for the suffering, at least make sure it is only for your stand as a believer. We broken humans will have ample opportunity to demonstrate how broken we are. Know that God has you in his hand, and do not make your brokenness a lifestyle.

Posted in End times, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A second beast

Posted on 10/29/2011 by remso

Revelation 13:11-18 NIV (11) Then I saw a second beast , coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. (12) It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. (13) And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. (14) Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. (15) The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. (16) It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, (17) so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. (18) This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.

Then I saw a second beast In some ways God is making no distinctions between the two beasts for they are both evil, possessed by evil, and serving the same intent, taking God’s people to destruction. Odd, but only if you caught it. I said God’s people, but what is so odd about that. The rapture has already come, possibly three and half years earlier, and yet if you study the scriptures you will begin to see a common thread that runs through all time; up to the day of judgment they are all God’s saints. I hope this begins to give you a new perspective on how you look at those around you, especially those you pass judgment upon.
Scripture gives us some clues about who this second beast is; It had two horns like a lamb. Who do we, in the Christian community understand the lamb to be? Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and the lamb of God slain for the sins of the world.

Take strong note of how much Satan tries to mimic God’s plan of salvation, using a character that has some similar characteristics. I hope this triggers off a thought process in you. What if this beast presents himself as “the lamb” that we recognize? The deception will be horrific!

Jesus, in response to the disciples question; “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? ” The first thing he says to them is  see to it that no one deceives you! Why ? For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.
Consider Jesus statement for a moment. I understand from scriptures that Jesus will only touch down on this earth one more time. On that day scripture tells us that he is coming on the clouds and every eye will see him (he is not sneaking up on anyone); he will be bathed in light and fire; he will have a sword coming out of his mouth, and he will land on the Mount of Olives and it will split in two as though an earthquake had hit. He will not show up, standing in some farmers field, telling people to follow him, and demonstrating that he is the lamb through powerful signs.
Now with that in mind, all the cracked pots that claimed to be Jesus or his mouth piece, have only been just that, cracked pots. Think about that analogy. No one buys a pot that is cracked on purpose, that is just stupid, but over time the pot that was once useful, and served a purpose, lost its ability to hold anything properly. It is possible that you did not discover the crack until it spilled it’s contents where you did not want it, and quite possibly wasted your dinner.
For a time, here in Southern California, we had a radio show called “the Jesus show”. That seems safe enough, but the man was skilled; he seemed to know scripture, and he spoke with authority. The problem is that he spoke as if he were Jesus. When he did that I was done with him. Is it that the cracks in men are not as obvious? What if, because we are not paying attention, or we are choosing not to see the cracks, we do not pay attention when they spill their contents all over us. Often, by the time that happens it is too late, and that is why we see sad cases where good people followed these leaders to a tragic death.

There is only one thing that will keep you safe from following a counterfeit Christ (by the way, that word Christ means messiah) and that is knowing the real thing. How would you do that? Study the scriptures, for in them you will find life.

Posted in Deception, End times, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Return to your first love.

Posted on 10/12/2011 by remso

The Church at Ephesus
Revelation chapter 2

Revelation 2:1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write,….

A tad bit of background on Ephesus.

From Gill’s commentary: a city of Ionia, and which Pliny calls (f) the work of the Amazons, and the light of Asia; it was famous for the temple of Diana, but more so for having a church of Christ in it: hither the Apostle Paul came and preached, and continued for the space of two years; where a very famous church was planted by him, and proper officers appointed, to whom he wrote a very excellent epistle: this is now a miserable desolate place, not a city, but a village; and is called by the Turks, Aiasalik: of this place and church; See Gill on Act_18:19, Act_20:17,

Acts 18:19 And he came to Ephesus,…. The metropolis of Asia; according to Pliny (c), it had been called by many names; at the time of the Trojan war, Alopes, then Ortygia and Morges, also Smyrna Trachea, Samornion and Prelea, and which he calls the work of the Amazons: some say (d) it was called Ephesus, because Hercules permitted the Amazons to dwell in it, Ephesus in the Greek language signifying “permission”; Pausanias (e) denies, that the famous temple in it was built by them, but by Ephesus the son of Caystrus, and says that from him the city had its name; though others say it was built by Androclus, the son of Codrus, king of Athens, in the time of David king of Israel; and that having suffered by the sea, it was rebuilt by Lysimachus king of Thrace, who called it after his wife’s name Arsinoe; but he being dead, it was called by its ancient name Ephesus: it is now a poor village in the hands of the Turks, and with them goes by the name of Aiasalik; though with others it still has the name of Epheso; the Syriac version reads, “they came”; not only Paul, but Aquila and Priscilla; and certain it is that they came with him thither, since it follows, and left them there; unless this is to be understood of Cenchrea: this clause is not here read in the Syriac version, but is placed at the end of Act_18:21, where it reads much better; as that he should leave them at Ephesus, when he departed from thence, than when he first came thither; unless the sense is, that he left them in some part of the city, whilst he went to the Jewish synagogue; since it follows, but he himself entered into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews; concerning Jesus being the Messiah, and the abrogation of the law; and the doctrine of justification by the righteousness of Christ, and not by the deeds of the law: which were the principal things in debate, between him and the Jews: Beza’s ancient copy reads, “and the sabbath following he left them there”.

Keep in mind that Revelation itself is a book revealing Jesus. Jesus is who John is seeing, and it is Jesus that is speaking to him; speaking about “what was, what is, and what is to come.” Therefore God is speaking to these churches. It is a message that is specific, for as we can see from the background, already stated, that Ephesus effectively disappeared off the map.

The words spoken over the churches are at first encouraging, for they point out some good aspect(s) prior to the delivery of the bad news.

Revelation 2:2-3 NIV I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. (3) You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

The bad news is:
Revelation 2:4-5 NIV Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. (5) Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place.

They only seem to get dinged on one point. The oddity here is, when you read the background information, the potential for many other accusations are there. Consider the pointed way God steers us through scripture and we do not get it. I am not surprised.

What is the one thing that Ephesus does that draws God’s ire? Lost their first love. God’s directive to them: Return to your first love or I will remove your candle stick from its place. John saw Jesus walking among the candlesticks in Heaven. Perhaps this scene is representational of our foundations, but on that, I am not sure. After getting admonished to return to their first love what do they do? Nothing or too little.

Considerations:
What can define a first love?
Excitement
The desire to learn about the one your attentions are set upon.
Passion
Fire
Love
Sincere questioning as you learn about the other.
Studying the other person, memorizing each line of the face (as an example).
Enthusiasm
Exploration
I am sure there are many more aspects, but now apply these ideas to the newness of our relationship with the Father (this has an entirely different meaning when God is your Father.) I will tell you, that as I pondered this, I thought of my own experience in “coming to the Father”. I was raised in church. My mother would lay a blanket down behind the seats in the back row, and in many ways I literally grew up there. I came to know of God as I came to be able to communicate, but in our Christian way of thinking there must be a point in which you, with understanding, make a decision to follow him. I suspect I did that at about age 12. So many will give their testimony how they, after a brutal life, came to know the Lord on a particular day; mine was not so dramatic. I think that it feels more like a family, which gets along somewhat, and there is no painful drama that makes you wish you born to someone else. Within this family there is an expression of love through actions and words. In my quiet times I can hear God telling me that He loves me, just as a father might. I had my attempts at a family and children stripped away from me, but during the time that I had them I held them and told them that I loved them, and that they were valuable. The point in this is that when you are accustomed to loving environment, you may not see or feel the passions that are involved when you leave the nest and find love on your own.

That takes me to my next point, and that is that we tend to associate a first love with a girlfriend or marriage. Sadly, as so commonly happens within a marriage, we tend to lose our first love. Really? Or do we slowly decide that the things that made that relationship exciting are just not worth the effort any more, as you shout out at your wife, “get me a beer”.

So then, the question is, how do you keep you love alive. This becomes important because God told this church to return to their first love. Obviously God and his Son were the basis of this.

An aspect of a first love is exploration. That means finding out what makes the other tick, and and eventually finding out the habits they already have, the good and the bad. Yes, I have been married several times. Now that we are past that I can say my second wife was doing just that, when she asked me what kind of bread I liked, and what kind of toothpaste I used. Wow, I never really thought about the toothpaste thing, but I suppose that it is important, for some taste pretty odd. I answered her question with I will eat just about anything, but I prefer wheat bread. She then seemed shocked, so I asked her why. She had had a relationship with a young man who got very angry over having white bread in their “home”. The way I see it, starving people just eat.

Now God has no bad habits, but he does have a misunderstood reputation. If you are going to have a love relationship with the Father then I would think that it would be a requirement for you to find out who he really is. God is love, and when you have been damaged by people that requires some serious personal time, spent learning about, and building a relationship in which you can love him back. I have found that I respond well to the realization that his goodness is toward me, for no one has ever loved me the way he does; no one listens to me the way he does; no one talks to me the way he does, and no one has ever made me feel so wanted, the way he does.

Within a marriage there comes a point at which you must decide to keep love alive. How does that happen? You become accustomed and complacent. Do I really need to say “I love you” to her that much, if at all. She knows I love her, just look at those pots and pans I bought her for her birthday. Are you serious. Unless you are just an ignorant caveman that scratches his head with a club, then communication is essential. I cannot tell you how many times I have walked away from work depressed and emotionally spent, feeling little to no self-worth, primarily because I feel as though I am not heard; a lack of communication. Aside from communication, keeping love alive requires that you overlook perceived faults, and look for those things that ignited you at the beginning, while thinking outside the box. This makes me think of a commercial in which the family looks at the table with dinner on it, and says, “ same thing again”. So ask yourself, in the early days of your relationship did you constantly do the same things? No, you made life interesting.

I am so dismayed by people that are bold enough to think they have the right to tell God that he cannot act through people in certain manners. For example: tongues, interpretation, and essentially the gamut of the giftings of the Holy Spirit. I approached a lady at a church I visited, because I had told of her. She had directed some questions to the speaker, at his request, and I was appalled at how pitiful and curt the speakers response was to  her questions. I spoke a few words to her that I felt the Holy Spirit had directed me to say, and then asked her if I could pray with her about the situation. The first thing she said to that request was “no ghost”. I could hear this in my head immediately, what are you talking about, and yet I knew the answer. She started to explain that she wanted no refence to the Holy Ghost. An odd thing about that is that  I already feel that way about the term because I am not finding it in scripture, but the negativity was almost overwhelming. To be honest, I wanted to walk away from her at that moment; I did not, but internally I was skeptical about her receiving anything. Sometimes you just do what you are told and let God do his. It all gets sorted out in the end.

We, as a church, seem to struggle with the concept blaspheming of the Holy Spirit. People have serious concerns about the damage they may have done to themselves when they ask, either about themselves or someone else for they think they have may have condemned themselves to hell because of what they said or did. Jesus made the concept of blasphemy pretty clear when he rebuked some pharisees for attributing the miracles, healings, and words that he had done and spoke, to the devil. Addressing the pharisees, he told them that they were blaspheming and in danger of hell itself when they were doing just that. If we associate the acts of the Holy Spirit to something other than God then what makes us think that we are not doing the same thing when we try to restict God, because we have decided that He is inappropriate.

Make note: Even though this church was vibrant and alive, something happened and they “lost that loving feeling” (The Medley Brothers). God warned them to get it back, therefore it was something that they could get back, if they choose to, but they did not, and the fact that little to nothing exists of that metropolis today is a statement to the God whose word is true.

Some will argue that this letter is exclusive to the non-existent church body that met at Ephesus, but what if your wrong. What if every aspect of these churches exists within us today. One of the signs of His return is the falling away of the church; another translation is the rebellion. We as a church have lost our first love, we have fallen away, and we are in rebellion. What if God is telling us to return to our first love, and find that passion, fire, and desire to learn of him. Studying every wrinkle of his face.

Posted in End times, Thoughts on scripture, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

about eating food sacrificed to idols

Posted on 10/11/2011 by remso

Only days ago I read where a large number of food producers in America were now sending products to the market, manufactured under Halal-certified standards. Standards that are mandated under Sharia law.
If Islam were to exist in this country like every other religious or unusual practice, and those who chose to follow Islam’s way did so because they wanted to, then go right ahead, but that is not what is happening. This nation, founded on principles of freedom is rapidly losing that freedom through overhwelming governmental and religious terrorism.
An example:
Secret U.S. Memo Made Legal Case to Kill a Citizen
By CHARLIE SAVAGE
Published: October 8, 2011
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s secret legal memorandum that opened the door to the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born radical Muslim cleric hiding in Yemen, found that it would be lawful only if it were not feasible to take him alive, according to people who have read the document.
The memo, written last year, followed months of extensive interagency deliberations and offers a glimpse into the legal debate that led to one of the most significant decisions made by President Obama — to move ahead with the killing of an American citizen without a trial.

Another example may well be the introduction of permissible foods into every market place. Are we there yet? No, but Costco has added Halal-certified foods into the mainstream, right next to a “regular” chicken. My father saw this piece of news, and with feathers ruffled pointed it out to me. I informed him that this is nothing terribly new. See below; taken from Islam, an informational page in Wikipedia

The leading North American halal food producer and distributor in the United States is the Midamar Corporation. Midamar is the first company in the USA to slaughter halal beef in USDA inspected plants.{Midamar Milestones} This company has been in operation since 1974, and it is based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the home of the oldest mosque in the Americas still standing. The children of Muslims who settled in Iowa around 1900 discerned a need to start producing halal beef and chicken catering to the tastes of American Muslims.
Since 1991, mainstream manufacturers of soups, grains, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, prepared foods, and other products, as well as hotels, restaurants, airlines, hospitals, and other service providers have pursued the halal market. These companies purchase halal-certified products. Halal certification tells Muslims that their ingredients and production methods have been tested and declared permissible by a certification body. It also allows companies to export products to most Middle Eastern countries and South East Asian Countries. The oldest and most well-known halal certifier in the United States is called the “Islamic Services of America”. Something that companies which intend to export halal products must keep in mind, when choosing a certifier, is whether or not the certifier is recognized by foreign governmental bodies.[10]
In 1986, the “Islamic Meat & Poultry Company” was founded in Stockton, California. Islamic Meat & Poultry is a halal-only, U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected, hand-slaughtering and meat-processing facility. This company follows the principles of slaughtering and meat-processing according to the Islamic Shariah.[citation needed]
In 1993, Mr. Ahsan Mohyuddin founded the “Halal Meat & Food Corporation” in Bladenboro, North Carolina.[citation needed]
Also in Europe, several organizations have been created over the past 20 years in order to certify the halal products. A survey recently published by a French association of Muslim Consumers (ASIDCOM) shows that the market of halal products has been developed in a chaotic way. The certification organizations do not have a common definition of “halal” nor agreed upon control procedures and traceability. The controls implemented by individual agencies are all very different: it can go from an annual audit of the slaughterhouse to checking each production with permanent controls in place and on-going independent.[11]

But wait a minute, I am a believer in Jesus Christ, therefore a Christian. Attempting to live my life as peacably as I can, here in the land of the free, so why should this affect me?

For one, maybe it is because we are losing our freedoms. Our government is throwing constitutional freedoms right out the window, and Islam, with its Sharia law, is hell bent on taking over the world. Will they? That is yet to be seen.

Consider how this effects the Christian community, and its scriptural standpoint.

1 Corinthians 8:1-13 NIV (1) Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. (2) Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. (3) But whoever loves God is known by God. (4) So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” (5) For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), (6) yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. (7) But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. (8) But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. (9) Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. (10) For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? (11) So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. (12) When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. (13) Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.

Let’s attempt to examine this, one bite (humor) at a time.
Verse 4:
So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.”
“Food sacrificed to idols”
We understand that Halal (Arabic: حلال‎ ḥalāl, “lawful”) is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term is used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law (Sharia, الشريعة الإسلامية). (Wikipedia)

Part of what makes it permissible to the Muslim is the manner in which it is slaughtered.
According to the laws of Ḏabīḥah halal, certain prerequisites must be met before an animal is slaughtered: (Wikipedia)
The act of taking an animal’s life is called a “sacrifice”. A statement of practice from the ENA meat packing company. How Halal meat is prepared. From ENA meat packers.
The animal must not be a forbidden substance as per the Quran.[1]
The head of an animal that is slaughtered using halal methods is aligned with the Qiblah (or Kaaba). Dhabiha: method of slaughter Turning of the head towards the Qiblah
The slaughter itself must be done by a sane (mentally competent) adult Muslim, Jew, or Christian as they are considered “People of the Book” (Arabic: Ahl al-Kitāb‎); this is a point of consensus amongst Muslim scholars. They differed however concerning whether Sabians and Zoroastrians are also included under People of the Book as stated in Surah Al-Maa’idah, Ayat 5. Modern authors have proposed that Christians aren’t included in this dispensation, due to the Paulian doctrine of the Trinity. This proposal does not hold much weight however, as the trinity and ascription of a son is mentioned several times disparagingly in the Quran, yet the verse 4:5 was one of the last to be revealed.
All Muslim scholars hold that mentioning God Almighty (Allah Akbar) name at the time of slaughter is a must, they differed as to whether or not forgetting to do so or leaving it off intentionally at the time of slaughter rendered the sacrifice void and thus the meat forbidden for consumption. They also agree that if other than God’s name is mentioned then this would be forbidden, due to the verse “Eat not of that (meat) on which Allah’s Name has not been pronounced.” [Al-Anaam 6:121]
Thus an animal slaughtered by a Christian who did not mention anything at the time of slaughter would be permissible to some, while other scholars would hold it impermissible. (Wikipedia)
Dhabīḥah (Arabic: ذَبِيْحَة‎ ḏabīḥah IPA: [ðæˈbiːħɐ], or Zabiha) is, in Islamic law, the prescribed method of ritual slaughter. The precise details of the slaughtering method arise from Islamic tradition educated by the prophet Muhammad, rather than direct Quranic mandate. It is used to comply with the conditions stated in the Qur’an:

The Kaaba (Arabic: الكعبة‎ al-Kaʿbah IPA: [ʔælˈkæʕbɐ], English: The Cube)[1] is a cuboid-shaped building in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and is the most sacred site in Islam.[2] The Qur’an states that the Kaaba was constructed by Abraham and his son Ishmael, after Ishmael had settled in Arabia.[3] The building has a mosque built around it, the Masjid al-Haram. All Muslims around the world face the Kaaba during prayers, no matter where they are. One of the Five Pillars of Islam requires every Muslim to perform the Hajj pilgrimage at least once in his or her lifetime if they are able to do so. Multiple parts of the Hajj require pilgrims to walk seven times around the Kaaba in a counter-clockwise direction (as viewed from above). This circumambulation, the Tawaf, is also performed by pilgrims during the Umrah (lesser pilgrimage).[2] However, the most dramatic times are during the Hajj, when, officially, about 6 million pilgrims gather to circle the building on the same day.[4][5]
In terms of verse 4: “about eating food sacrificed to idols:”
God gave distinct directions about NOT eating foods sacrificed to idols, but that was under the law.

Paul also spoke about it, because, while the Idol does nothing for the recipient of that food, eating it does bring about a consciousness of the act, the symbolism, and their god. God, being a jealous God, is not the least bit interested in sharing you with something associated with another god; we call that Idolatry.

Paul spoke about our liberty, but he also spoke about the hazards of using that liberty as a license. So, if I have the freedom to not worry about where some meat came from and what it was dedicated to, and my lack of concern causes someone who is weaker to fall away from God because they cannot now justify a good reason to serve the living God, just because they saw me eating something questionable, absurd as that seems. I also have the directive to not exercise my liberties in front of you.

So the question then is: If I eat your Halal-certified food, I am then partaking in your worship, your symbolism, and your false god?
I might be, especially if I am aware of it, and I can certainly see how some weaker Christians might stumble over this. Until just a few days before the writing of this I was not even aware of such certifications on food.
Is the method of slaughter a bad thing? No more than any other, except that they declare the name of Allah over it, and specifically point this animal toward the Ka’aba, in image, an idol, and that was forbidden under the law. If I am not under the law, then why would the Ka’aba be a problem to me? Because God did not say “you shall have no other God’s before me” just to practice speaking. To the modern day Christian that could imply the Television if it takes his place. And there is always the possibility of you stumbling, because they seem to honor god for providing and they honor the animal for giving it’s life that they may live.

Verse 4: “There is no God, but one”
In some ways I have already touched upon this. God is a jealous God, and if you read the scriptures then you saw how angry he got at people carving up a stick and worshipping it, as if it brought them life. God berates these things that have no arms to provide for you, and no lips to speak to you, and yet you waste your time falling over yourself before them.
An example of how preposterous idol worship can be comes to mind. Remember when the Philistines captured the ark? No, then read this.
1 Samuel 5:1-5 NIV After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. (2) Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon. (3) When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. (4) But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. (5) That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon’s temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.

Verse (5) For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), (6) yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. (7) But not everyone possesses this knowledge.

We really want to believe that we live in a sanitary world, where nothing interrupts our peace, and yet we surrounded with a world occupied with its own mindset. Focused upon their own gods they do not care how their goals impact you. Am I being narrowed minded, no more so than God, but God does give us the freedom of choice. We are free to follow after him or not. There are of course repercussions for that bad decision; an endless life of hell with agony.
One of things we have to settle in our minds is the fact that God is real, and that there is a promised return for following him. How can you know this? God has proven himself to be true. He has done what he said, and done it publicly. Jesus, his Son, and God himself, did exactly what he said. The Jews even attested to this when they could argue any better than to say the works that Jesus did were of the devil. Jesus, did things that, even to them, only God could do.
Isn’t it odd that over 500 years after the death of Jesus, Mohammed comes along with his message in opposition to the cross and Christianity.

What we are dealing with is God’s plan for the end, and we need to be focused upon that. What I see people reacting to, with anger, is people and government. How do you justify your actions when our directive is to PRAY. Yes, God gave us brains and mouths, so with them we speak out against a government that chooses to throw away due process for an American citizen.

If we are going to react with such emotion then let’s get people educated, react at the ballot box, and get some people in government that have a backbone and are willing to keep this nation free and out of debt.
Sadly, I think that is impossible now; you prevent a landside before it happens, not during.

I cannot tell you how many times I have heard someone ask, “why doesn’t the bible speak of the United States in end times events?” Maybe it is because we become an Islamic nation, ruled by Sharia law, where Christians are killed, and this country becomes the base of warfare against the Jews.

It was recently in the news that the Ohio prison system, in response to Muslim prisoners, has implemented Halal foods exclusively for them. You should be aware that the prison systems are the biggest recruiters of converts to Islam here in the United States.

Do you not realize that, scripturally speaking, something is holding back the evil in the world from completely dominating, and Islam is only a part of that team, a major part yes, but still a part. That force, spoken of in second in 2Thessalonians, is a handful, so to speak, of praying people, who are passionately standing against demonic forces that are going to have their way for a relatively short time. Do not think that Islam’s short, violent reign will not be the norm, for Jesus himself tells us that no man would survive their reign if God did not shorten time.

Posted in Cult teachings, End times, Thoughts, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment