Going Too Far

Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.

2 Kings 23:26

Is it possible for a nation, state, local church, or some other type of corporate body to go too far into sin so that the judgment of God will fall regardless of serious attempts for revival?  This is a sobering question.  We do know that God was willing to withhold judgment on Sodom for 10 righteous, but we also know that He did not find them.  He was willing to grant Assyria a reprieve as well after the preaching of Jonah at Nineveh, but we know that later they too were destroyed.  Will America receive judgment regardless of efforts to revive the land?  I hope the answer is no!  I love this land, but the sin of the nation is grave.

  


This is not about personal repentance.  We do know that even Manasseh, a man who led Judah into terrible sin, repented and was accepted by God when he humbled himself after being captured by the Assyrian King, Ashurbanipal.  "And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,  And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God."  (2 Chronicles 33:12-13)  What a message of hope!  This man promoted false gods and witchcraft.  He murdered the righteous in the land and had Isaiah sawn in two. He lived in gross rebellion for 50 years yet God heard his cry for forgiveness.  What a merciful Savior!  However, this is personal repentance and the topic is corporate punishment.  According to the text verse above, God still judged the land for the sin of Manasseh although the man responsible for the judgment repented.  Here is an important lesson to learn, God may forgive the sin but he seldom forgives the consequences!

God forgave David, but he lost a child, had a son rape his daughter, had another murder the rapist who later stole his throne and was killed in an ensuing battle.  These were all the consequences of his murderous and adulterous affair with Bathsheba.  God forgave Samson, but He still died with the Philistines.  God even forgave Saul the persecutor of the church, yet as an apostle he suffered beatings often.  God forgave Jacob for deceiving his brother, but Jacob was still deceived by his father-in-law, his wife (whose sin led to her own death due to a curse by her husband), and his sons who sold their brother, Joseph,  into slavery while lying to Jacob about his death.  Galatians 6:7 puts it best.  "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

Manasseh had killed all of the righteous servants of God.  This created a spiritual vacuum that was hard to overcome.  Manasseh's son, Amon, never did repent and was assassinated.  His grandson, Josiah, did lead a great revival, but it may have only been superficial.  Josiah did hold off the judgment for a short time, but it still fell eventually.  This is the very message of 2 Kings 23.  The text is discussing the overwhelming reforms of Josiah.  It was amazing to see the degree to which this great king humbled himself and led a national revival, but right in the middle of the text is the above verse, verse 26.  The spiritual vacuum created by the wretched acts of Manasseh was too great and there were not enough people left to sincerely repent on behalf of the nation.  Soon Babylon's troops would arrive and the nation would be carried away as punishment for their national sin.  The temple that was defiled with multiple altars to false gods would be razed and left as an empty field.  God, however, was merciful and promised a return.

Outdoor Wicca (witchcraft) altar and service at the US Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Co.

What an abomination!

  

What a parallel exists today.  Just last weekend churches in America read from the Koran while  promoting Islam and the Koran from their pulpits.  This act of provoking the Almighty was even committed in our national cathedral.  Shared Faith Service at the National Cathedral | NBC Washington  We know that the nation has been murdering babies in the womb for decades and that there are those who are redefining marriage to their own destruction.  We are the number one distributor of pornography in the world.  Child sex trafficking in the US is on the rise.  The courts and godless organizations are working overtime to try and erase our Christian roots and abolish any references to the God of the Bible in the public arena.  The name of Jesus Christ is mocked and spit upon everywhere.  Just yesterday, I tried to witness to a man who calls himself Gay Jesus.  The list of sins committed by this once Christ fearing nation seems to grow daily.  Where is it leading?

This Fourth of July, pray!  Pray for mercy!  Pray for God to break the hearts of our national leaders and the people of the land.  We cannot survive without a national awakening!  We must turn to Christ!  Time is short.  Have we already crossed the point of no return?  Only God knows, but it doesn't look good!  Pray!

Israel and the Middle East--God's Prophetic Timeclock

Jews from "Lost" Tribe of Manasseh in India to Return to Israel

Britain: Iran testing missiles w... JPost - Iranian Threat - News

Police to restrict Temple Mount entry am... JPost - National News

Godlessness in America

Bill Mandating California Schools Teach Gay History Is a Lesson in Controversy - FoxNews

UN and Global Government

North Korea to Chair UN Disarmament Conference - FoxNews.com

A Message of Hate

"Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness."

Proverbs 30:20

It is very popular today to accuse any who oppose homosexual marriage as a preacher of hate.  So is there a message of hate involved with standing against homosexuality, homosexual "marriage", and the breakdown of the biblical institution of marriage?  Read a few quotes from some of the attached news articles as proof of these accusations of Bible believers being haters.  

"Apparently, the SDFPC thinks it is okay for Jesus-loving students to badger and belittle gay and lesbian students."  Sioux Falls school district policy against bullying opposed by SD Christian group - Sioux Falls atheism | Examiner.com 

"According to CREDO -a “progressive” San Francisco-based firm that mobilizes liberals to action on a variety of causes – the American Family Association is a bad, bad bunch of people. In fact, CREDO refers to the group as “a Mississippi-based conservative Christian organization that’s so vehemently anti-gay, they’ve been identified as a ‘hate group’ by the Southern Poverty Law Center.""

Nikki Haley And The Holy Rollers :: :: FITSNewsFITSNews

"Is this another example of anti-gay, zealout pro-creationists trying to eliminate the LGBTIQ community from being able to use public-geared facilities?" 

Anti-gay group flies hate speech banner during Disney Gay Days - National GLBTQ Issues | Examiner.com

"It's not about the Baptists, not about the Catholics alone, or the Lutherans, or the Evangelicals, or any other denomination, but rather the head of the denomination, and his name is Jesus, as every president up until 2008 has acknowledged and we pray it in Jesus' name."

***This article said nothing about the man's speech towards gays.  It was more about the Precious name of Jesus with the anti-gay pastor line used as a hook to draw a readers attention.

Anger After Controversial Anti-Gay Pastor Recites Prayer at Minnesota State House - FoxNews.com


"And in his statement, DiMarzio complained that proponents of the bill "have demonized people of faith…and identified them as bigots and prejudiced." Hmm, certitude in the superiority of your beliefs over others': nope, no bigotry there."  
Gay Marriage Continues To Rile New York Religious Leaders: Gothamist

I guess I agree!  There is a message of hate in the Cross.  Jesus' death was all about God and what He hates.  The nails, the beating, the lashing, the being spit upon and mocked; it was all about hate.  Leaving heaven where you are constantly revered and adored as you rightly should be was all about hate.  God humbling Himself as a man and becoming obedient unto death was a great act of hatred.  God so hated sin and its effects on humanity that He had to act.  Jesus proved how much He hated sin with every drop of His precious blood.  God understands how sin destroys mankind and sends those snared by sin and without the only appropriate propitiation for sin to a place of eternal destruction.  So in His hatred of sin and its consequences, He sent His ONLY begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to become a sin offering for us.  The Bible says it best.  "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."  (2 Corinthians 5:21)  The apex of Christ's gospel is that God hates what sin does to His divine order. 


John 3:16 has an opposite message implied.  For God so hated sin that He gave His only begotten son...


So why the text verse above?  It seemingly has nothing to do with this argument, or does it?  It shows the reaction of the guilty.  Those caught in the clutches of sin need to justify their lifestyle in an attempt to assuage the guilt they feel.  Just as an adulteress claims that her actions are not wrong, so does any who accepts sin willfully in clear violation of God's teaching (There seems to be a lot of this going on lately with a variety of sinful actions).  After doing that long enough, they sear their conscience to the point that they can no longer detect the debilitating effects of sin in their life.  Just as those in Lot's day in the town of Sodom who called him judgmental as they tried to beat his door down in order to rape angels (Genesis 19), those who are guilty of sin and wish to remain in it vengefully often label those who share truth as a bigot and a hater.  Whether the sin is gossip, envy, lust of any form (including homosexuality), or any other transgression clearly outlined in scripture, those who wish to remain blind will accuse those who see clearly from God's word and by His Spirit as being intolerant.  


If you are in this sin or caught in any other, as William Cowper so eloquently penned, "There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel's veins and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains."  Jesus Christ did not die to leave you marred and wallowing in the very sin that bound you and is destroying you, but He died for you in love to set you free and cleanse you from all that separated you from God.  Ultimately, the message is one of love and hope.  He just requires you to agree with Him about your sinful condition and to repent and believe.


As far as standing in the streets with a sign saying "God hates fags", that is hate.  It is not the true message of Christianity nor does the God of the Bible sanction it.  God loves you and wants you to turn wholeheartedly to Him for forgiveness and cleansing.  It would take too long to outline where that idea on those placards is coming from, but it has the same source as the notion that God made you to be a sinner caught in homosexuality, drug addiction, pedophilia, or any other wrong.  Turn to Jesus!  He loves you and desires to set you free.  He is also Soon2Come! 

"But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ."
Ephesians 2:13

And The LORD Came Down

"And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth."

Genesis 11:1-9

The above text was written in a literary structure commonly referred to as a chiastic pattern.  This structure is a device that the ancients often used to highlight a main topic, action, or idea and the pattern is often found in scripture in both testaments.  The subject is the center of the pattern and the stress is on this main idea so that the reader will know that it is the major event, idea, or concept to focus on.  Let's briefly outline the structure in these verses to find this middle place.  (The word "chiasm" is related to the word "cross" so that the word itself explains the idea of a center point.)

a.  Introduction--Verse 1--The Earth is one in voice under one Lord.

  b.  The people settle in a single area in rebellion to God's command to go out and multiply--verse 2.

c.  The people say let's make brick and mortar rather than choosing solid stone thus unifying ourselves (that which God made and further rebellion)--verse 3.  

d.  The people say let's join together to build our own unacceptable means to heaven which is terribly rebellious--verse 4.

*Verse 5 is the center of the structure--the stress is on the Lord coming down!

d.  God says your rebellion has not escaped the eyes of Heaven's Throne and I will not allow you to unite against Me (the unacceptable is rejected and destroyed)--verse 6.

c.  God says I will come down and confound your plans and cause your unity to cease--verse 7.

b.  The LORD scatters the people around the earth--verse 8.

a.  Conclusion--The Earth has many voices but still only ONE LORD!  Verse 9  

Yesterday we saw another example of the earth unifying itself against the LORD of all creation.  Another state has chosen to accept an abomination rather than to submit to God's plan.  Men and women are deciding that the first institution that God ordained--marriage (a shadow of salvation, God and Israel, Christ and the Church)--is now an institution that they can decide to redefine willfully against scripture as they wish.  It is one of many indicators that humanity is trying once again to unify itself against the Holy One.  From abortion, gay rights, pornography, euthanasia, divorce, and a whole host of other rebellious acts, humanity is on a collision course with the stress of the LORD coming down.  Like at Babel, God sees all of this. He even used this prophetic chiasm to outline that Heaven sees and God will act.  Where does that leave you!

What Utter Blasphemy!

I was sitting in a restaurant in Greenville, SC yesterday having lunch with beautiful wife, Melodie.  We were discussing some of the sermons we had heard in our state campmeeting and discussing the coming of the Lord.  Also, I had shared this outline with a friend of mine who is very much a mentor just a day or so prior.  Finally, I was thinking about Peters' sermon in Acts 2 as I wrote about yesterday.  That is when it hit me!  Regardless of your choice, the Lord is coming!  How He comes to you, as friend or foe, is your choice.  When the church unified themselves in prayer the Lord came down in a mighty and dramatic way in Acts 2.  When the world unified itself against the Lord in Genesis 11 He came down in a mighty and dramatic way as well.  When He comes, are you going to be found united with Him or in rebellion against Him?  Are you going to forgive your brethren, set aside petty differences, and seek the Lord as never before for the souls of men, or are you going to persist in your rebellious ways and act like a carnal worldling?  Either way, the Lord is coming down!  Get ready!  It is soon!  Jesus Christ is Soon2Come!   

Distressing News

New York Becomes the Sixth State to Legalize Gay Marriage - FoxNews.com

Judge Blocks Indiana From Cutting Funds for Planned Parenthood Over Abortions - FoxNews.com

Gay pride flag flying over Richmond Fed building - wtvr

Transgender Teen is Voted Prom Queen at Florida High School - FoxNews.com

Five Words That Could Save the Church - FoxNews.com  BUT THE BIBLE IS NOT WRONG!!!

The Gay Pride Flag at the Richmond Federal Reserve--And you wonder why our economy is in shambles? 

   

Forgotten Elements

First, I want to thank everyone for their prayers, concern, and their notes to me.  There are three discs involved with the neck pain and I am scheduled to see a neuro-surgeon on the 28th.   I am doing better as far as pain. There are still some problems from holding my arms up to the keyboard, but I am going to get through it.  Also, this month has been a very busy month as well.  I am writing this from the SC Church of God Campmeeting where Melodie and I have been all week.  Perry Stone and Tommy Bates have been doing a great job in the evening services.  The morning services have also been very challenging as well.  


I want to share a few thoughts on some forgotten elements that you don't hear preached often.  It is apparent to anyone that the Apostle Peter was being mightily used by the Holy Ghost to preach after the events early in Acts 2.  If he was so anointed, then much of the preaching that is done today should contain some of the same thoughts,if not all of the thoughts, frequently since the Spirit is immutable and the message is the same as what is needed today.  Also, there should not be any teaching that denies these core concepts since this is more than a prepared sermon from a master speaker, but God, Himself, is using this man mightily in such a way that three thousand turn to Him after this single message.  There are many claiming to be speaking by God's anointing, but their words do not have the same important teaching as that which Peter and the other apostles shared throughout the Bible.  In essence, they are fulfilling the warnings of Christ and the scriptures that there would be deceivers and false prophets in the last days of the church age. 

First, like many others and our Lord Jesus Himself, Peter preached that there was only one acceptable means to heaven.  Look at a portion of Acts 2:22! It says, that He was, "Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God..."  Furthermore, he states, "that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." (Acts 2:36b)  The idea is simple!  There is no salvation outside of Jesus Christ and the bloody cross of Calvary.  Anyone who shares a message that hails another prophet or religious path to God is nothing but a liar, deceiver, tool of Satan, and/or a heretic.  If, as some well known "Christian" preachers teach currently, that we are all God's children and we will someday all gleefully make it to heaven whether we accepted Christ or not, then why did the apostles and early martyrs of the Church shed their precious blood to preach a salvation all would someday attain anyways at some point in the future?  They endured terrible suffering for the gospel as many are still doing today.  These liars are making a mockery of those who commit and have committed wholly unto Jesus to the point of death.  The apostles could have shut up and kept their ideas about Jesus to themselves since we would all make it to Heaven in the sweet by and by.  No!  My friend, do not allow this delusion in your life.  As Peter would say later in a sermon in Acts 4, "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)


Second, the Holy Ghost did not dance around sin for fear of hurting someones feelings.  We do need to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit and be kind and loving, but there is a time when we should speak clearly with harsh truth even as Peter did.  Look at this verse, "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain."  (Acts 2:23) Can you imagine this rough fisherman standing square footed in the very crowd that contained folks who just weeks ago shouted, "Crucify Him" and pointing his finger in their face as he said this?  Where was the political correctness here?  Where was the concern for their feelings?  Sometimes, we need to be more concerned about the lost than to hide behind demonically inspired excuses.  You need not go everywhere shouting at sinners but you had better learn that there are times when a strong, unyielding witness, directed by God, is needed.  The same Holy Ghost who told us to be loving also said that, "Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful."  (Proverbs 27:5-6)  So what is the missing element at the core of this harshness?  Repent!  When was the last time you heard a message calling men and women to repent of their sin and accept Christ?


Finally, Peter discussed the unending reign of the Son of David and the Son of God found in one person, Jesus Christ.  He knew that there was coming a day when the Savior would return and restore all things.  It is coming!  Are you ready?

The Chicken or the Egg

Remember the old question, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" Well which was it? The answer is simple if you understand that there is a Creator in the Bible who made all that there is. However, if you follow naturalistic concepts such as evolution the answer is less than clear. Let's make the question a bit more modern. Which came first, the Blu-Ray disc or the machine to read it? In this question we understand that there was a system creator and that the two were developed together. What good is making a Blu-Ray disc if you do not have a machine to read it? It would make a good skeet target, but that is about all. All of the information contained on it could not be retrieved if the machine to read it was not developed simultaneously. Problems like this are found around us every day in the entire universe and they give the overwhelming impression that there had to be a Designer of life as well as the universe.

Every cell in your body holds DNA. That DNA holds close to 750 megabytes of information or 3/4 of a gigabyte. That is a great deal of information. In his work* Signature in the Cell, Dr. Stephen C. Meyer asked to find a source of information that did not have a mind from which it originated. What if you found a book at a garage sale with the title page missing and the front cover destroyed. If you read it and liked it, would you ask how that book evolved or who wrote it? You would ask who wrote it, of course. That much information just doesn't evolve especially using a language system that is readable, detectable, and discernable, so the thought that it spontaneously generated would be an absurdity. Meyer used a similar illustration in his work noted above. If you had a set of encyclopedias wash ashore while you were at the beach, common sense tells you that it did not evolve by random processes. The encyclopedias had someone who compiled and printed the information. So why do so many ask if random processes spontaneously generated the information in the cells of every living thing while not asking who compiled and compressed the information into an ingenious language readable by components in the cell and discernable and decodable by other intelligent minds?



Let's say that you have a complete car engine but you don't have spark plugs. What good is the engine? How many necessary parts are there like this in an engine? How many parts are so integral to the engine that the car could not run without it? For that matter, let's say the engine worked fine, but you have no transmission--where will the car go? All of the systems and the parts of those systems have to be in place at the beginning or the car won't perform its designed task. Your cells and your body are even more complex than an engine, and there are many, many things that have to immediately be in place for life to happen. The organism simply could not survive without those integral components in place. This is called irreducible complexity. Biochemist Michael Behe was one of the first to make the argument that cells are too complex to just have developed on their own without an intelligent mind behind their design. There are many parts of a cell and entire organisms that must be in place at once for the organism to survive. They could not have evolved separately over time. Yet, many who claim to be brilliant are being illogical and ignoring this because they all too well understand the implications. They are turning a blind eye to the facts in order to maintain their own stubborn assertions and paradigms.


Let’s think back to the original question about the chicken or the egg and apply it to DNA. If we look at the information in DNA, the blueprints for building life, which came first, DNA or the RNA reader systems that decode it. Like the worthless Blu-Ray disc, if the system to read and interpret the information did not come about simultaneously, the information is worthless and there could be no life. How did such a complex system evolve over time? These are the sort questions that have many scientists saying that life on earth may have been seeded from space since every living cell is just too complex to happen randomly. Cells definitely have the appearance of being developed by an intelligent mind. As the quote mentioned in my prior post stated, it appears that “a super intellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology". Fred Hoyle, astronomer and mathematician, clearly could see that there seemed to be such an appearance although he was no believer in the God of the Bible as far as can be determined. The point is that one has to ignore all of these inferences of divinity and creation to conclude that there is no God.


Being an atheist, then, may actually be very illogical. Those believing in the random and spontaneous generation of life and the universe while willingly ignoring or explaining away the evidence to the contrary may be actually be professing themselves to be wise while thinking very foolishly.


Without realizing it today’s intelligent minds, such as Hawking, who says there is no God are fulfilling the prophecy of the end of days below. They are purposefully ignoring the evidence that there is a God who is creator and judge. The reasoning may be that they don’t want a God to be accountable to. Yet, they are accountable whether they state that He is there or not. We all know that ignorance of the law is no excuse in court. Ignorance of God will not hold up in His court either!

For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

2 Peter 3:5-7

*Meyers, Stephen C. Signature in the cell--DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design
New York, New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2009

Wise Foolishness

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

Romans 1:22-25

So just how smart are you?  Really!  Do you have all of the knowledge that is contained in the entire universe?  How close are you to attaining all of that knowledge?  For that matter, how close is mankind in obtaining all of that knowledge?  Why all the questions?  In order to conclusively state that there is no evidence for God you would need to have a reasonable percentage of that total knowledge--if not all--to come to that determination.  You would literally have to account for all understanding found in the entire universe and beyond in order to definitively state that there is no evidence of a divine being that is providing for and watching over creation.  Furthermore, you would have to conclude that the appearance of evidence is just that--an appearance.  Finally, you would have to explain the predictions and prophecies that have came to pass with extraordinary accuracy in the face of probabilities that seem to indicate evidence for a real all knowing being that is found in the Bible. 

Just how smart is mankind anyways?  Are we even close to finding all of the understanding there is to glean on our own planet?  If we don't fully understand all of the knowledge that is found on the planet that we live on, then how can we ever learn all that there is to know in a universe that is seemingly endless?  The amount of knowledge out there is nearly infinite, so how much do we know?  Do we have fifty percent of all knowledge acquirable? Do we have even forty percent?  Thirty? Twenty? Ten? It is very doubtful that we even have ten percent of all that there is to learn.  The estimates (estimates of this type are needed when you don't know!) for the number of galaxies in the universe are between 100 billion to 500 billion.  An average galaxy contains about 400 billion stars.  For a safe estimate, lets just say that there are 100 billion galaxies with 100 billion stars (much less than the best GUESS estimates).  That means that there are 1.0 x 10 to the 22nd stars in the KNOWN (?) universe.  Mankind has surely accounted for the lack of evidence of God in all of these parts of the universe, right? Surely!  If not, then why do "brilliant" men conclude that there is no God like Stephen Hawking recently stated?

For the sake of space, let me use an illustration that I often use of man's righteousness in approaching to God's holiness when witnessing.  We will leave God out of it for the time being.  Let's say that all of the knowledge that is acquirable is comparable to the distance from the Earth to  Jupiter.  The very best and brightest of all humans and the one with the lowest IQ decide they are going to jump towards that knowledge in order to show how much they know.  The one jumps ten feet and the other jumps one hundred feet--impressive!  Who neared the goal of Jupiter?  The one who jumped the 100 feet, of course.  In comparison to the goal of reaching Jupiter which is the higher jumper closer to, the goal or the one who jumped just ten feet?  Just as none of us by our own merits can obtain the unapproachable holiness of Almighty God in that we are closer to the rankest of sinners in our pathetic attempts to be righteous in ourselves, we are nowhere near the amount of understanding that there is in the universe.  Let's put God back in this now.  He is Omniscient, so how will we ever reach that level of infinite knowledge?  

In another post, I will discuss the evidence that appears to point to a divine mind and try to deal a bit with the overwhelming statistical probabilities found in fulfilled prophecy.  I also want to deal a bit with the verses above, in that they point to the sophomoric understanding of man when it comes to attempting to detach the Creator from His creation.  He left many, MANY fingerprints!  I will leave you with a couple of quotes to consider from men who jumped much higher than me!  

“For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.”--Robert Jastrow

  “A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super intellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature. The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question.”--Fred Hoyle 

Today's Headlines


Obama to Palestinians: Seeking st... JPost - Diplomacy & Politics


For First Time, Majority of Americans Support Gay Marriage - FoxNews.com


My Faith: How I learned to stop 'praying away the gay' – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs


Over 50 U.S. churches to hold Qur'an readings - Jihad Watch

What Did You Hear?

 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

Matthew 25:13

Well it was not the trumpet of the Lord, that is for sure!  However, I did not expect to hear it yesterday, but I am still expecting it at a time soon when people are unprepared to hear it.   Harold Camping and the Fitzpatrick fellow in New York may actually be a part of making sure the correct interpretation of Bible prophecy is not going to be heard by many who will be caught unawares.  What I did hear was the expected mockery from the media and their continued attacks on righteousness and godliness.  I heard an attempt to mask the true unveiling of prophecy with a man's foolish mathematical ramblings.   Finally, I heard the call of Christ to be steadfast and immovable to what is true.


It seems that Satan used this false preacher to try and embarrass the entire church while calling the correct preaching of Christ and His word into question.  It might work for those uninformed, but it will never work on those who know the truth.  Jesus Christ is coming!  All of those who are mocking the return of Christ will find themselves to be the ones embarrassed in the long run.  


Jesus Himself told us to flee from those who would say He is here or there. Yet, this type of heresy does give godless men an excuse, no matter how flimsy from God's perspective,  for running the church in the ground.  On this point, I was very sad to see some of my former students, many still in high school, ridiculing the coming of Messiah and their classmates who are believers on Facebook.   It is so sad to see the true preaching of salvation alone in Jesus tied to such gross, unbiblical error.  Look at these news items as further proof, but I warn that these articles are graphic in nature and content.   
 BBC News - 'Rapture' apocalypse prediction sparks atheist reaction
Masturbate-a-Thon and Other Fun Rapture Parties Across These United States of Sin - Miami Art - Cultist


As a reminder that this mockery was correctly predicted, here is an excerpt from May 4th's post "Rapture--May 21st?".   "If we don't know the date of His return, surely the message of the cross is just as silly they reason.  Look at this article as proof. Atheists Mock May Rapture Prediction with "Rapture Party" Sadly, without Jesus Christ covering their sin this will not be funny to them in 1000 years if they do not repent.  Very few godless people will take the time to separate those truly following scripture from those in error.  To them, they are all the same.  Furthermore, these false prophets are actually strengthening them in their unbelief."  This prediction has come true in many ways.  Many see this as a way of uniting a false teacher with those who are teaching truth.  It is a demonic attempt to make orthodox (as in right and true in belief and not a denomination) believers seemingly look as foolish as this false prophet, Harold Camping.  Remember, the Bible says to know your adversary, and it was obvious that this was the Liar's intention.  Didn't Paul warn to be careful, "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices"?  (2 Corinthians 2:11)  


I loudly heard an attempt to unite correct teaching against godlessness with false teaching.  Remember, Satan's tactic was to call truth into question by means of blowing false "Christian" teachers out of proportion.  Here was an item that was directly under the home page articles on Fox discussing Doomsday and Harold Camping.  Anger After Controversial Anti-Gay Pastor Recites Prayer at Minnesota State House - FoxNews.com  What did this man do in this article?  It says nothing about Him praying against gays at all.   That was just used as an attention getter or literary hook.  His crime was that he prayed in Jesus name.  Here is a quote from this pastor's prayer that caused the anger.  "It's not about the Baptists, not about the Catholics alone, or the Lutherans, or the Evangelicals, or any other denomination, but rather the head of the denomination, and his name is Jesus, as every president up until 2008 has acknowledged and we pray it in Jesus' name."


Directly beside this post,  It's NOT the end of the world as we know it - CNN.com , there was another post similar to the one on Fox.  It also called into question true teaching, godliness and holiness.  My Faith: How I learned to stop 'praying away the gay' – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs  Again, the tactic is to call into question truth by pointing out the error of a heretic.  Don't be fooled into believing that all that Christians teach is wrong or open for men's opinions and suggestions.  It is not!  God's word is eternal and two-thirds of prophecy that has been fulfilled has been done so with amazing accuracy.  The final third deals with Christ's return which can be seen unfolding now.  Regardless of what Fox, CNN, any other news outlet, or all of mankind without Christ thinks, God will have the last laugh.  His word is amazingly true and accurate; furthermore, it is still unfolding before us even in the midst of the current chaos (which Jesus accurately predicted) around us.


Like a master magician that is excellent at misdirection, here is proof that the real End of Days is near.   Obama: Borders will be different ... JPost - Diplomacy & Politics  While the media mocks the false prophet, they don't realize that they are reporting the news of many of the true prophets both major and minor.  What are the last days scenarios wound around?  The borders of Israel and the city of Jerusalem.  The enemy is trying to hide the truth while diverting the world's attention to the error.  Don't be fooled!  The world is nearing the return of Jesus Christ.  I reiterate, as the scriptures assuredly teach, that we do not know exactly when, but we do know that the season is upon us.


Make sure that as evil men wax worse that your love for Jesus does not wax cold.  Stay steadfast in Christ!  As I shared in a message this morning, flee error, follow truth, and fight the good fight of faith.  

But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.  I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

1 Timothy 6:11-16

As verse 15 reminds above, Jesus is soon2come, but in His time not ours--Watch!