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!

Removing the Landmarks

Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.

Proverbs 22:28

Changing the boundaries of inheritance was a serious offense to God.  He promised to judge those who were in the habit of changing the boundaries for their own sinful benefit.  By doing so, they endangered future generations and subverted the poor and defenseless. Americans once inherited the marks of a society that feared the God of the Bible and followed His precepts, but today the popular media, working under a less than holy agenda, operates a vicious campaign to overthrow those boundaries, those values, those land marks that made this nation great. It is easy to see.  Pick a topic such as marriage, creation, or any other institution that the Bible upholds and you will see articles weekly that seek to change societies concepts of morality or strengthen those already operating in unbelief.

Abraham Lincoln, with keen insight into man's fickle heart, noticed the tendency to make change to our own detriment.  He also noted our inability to grasp the unchanging when he said, "“A nation may be said to consist of its territory, its people, and its laws. The territory is the only part which is of certain durability. Laws change, people die, the land remains.”  While many are seeking to change our mores, values, and customs, God Almighty never changes.  The institutions that He established will long stand after this generation passes.  All attempts to change His mind or cast off His cords are foolish and futile. Marriage is one such value God established and it will outlast this generation that is ever seeking to change this ancient landmark.  

Many news outlets reported the story a couple weeks back of yet another celebrity proclaiming marriage to be a dead establishment.  Here is a link to the article.  Cameron Diaz says the institution of marriage is ‘dying’ « Entertainment  Marriage will not be done away with until God, Himself, says it is time to stop it.  It is certain that it will be around during the reign of Christ.  Why?  It is a shadow of the relationship of Christ to the church.  Like Israel who carried shadows of the cross with them wherever they went, God has placed certain reminders of our need of Him around us everywhere.  Marriage is one of those reminders.  Let's look at the first marriage.

God saw that Adam was alone and that it was not a good thing.  In His loving concern God took a rib and created Eve.  Jesus, the last Adam, was also in need of a bride.  As God wounded Adam's side in creating Eve, the side of Christ was wounded by a Roman spear from which blood and water flowed.  From this, the bride of Christ has been being made for 2000 years.  As Adam fell into a deep sleep, Christ slept the sleep of death for three days.  We know that He arose from the grave and has been drawing His bride ever since.  Very soon, all who believe will be attending the marriage followed by the great marriage supper of the Lamb.  Those left here on earth will be in awful tribulation as they try repeatedly to throw God out of their lives.  It doesn't work.  Christ returns with his bride and establishes His kingdom where this blessed institution will stay intact throughout His earthly reign.  

These constant chips at the values of society will change nothing.  God will not change His mind about marriage or whether it is between two men, two women, or "traditional".  He made marriage and it is as immutable as he is. He established and it will long outlast all attempts to do away with it.  Blessed be the Lord who has such power!  

 I will share a couple more of these articles soon on ideas our society is trying to change.  As a matter of fact, did you know there is no God?  At least a celebrity scientist, Stephen Hawking, told us that this week--again.  For a man who many hail as brilliant, that was certainly a foolish statement.  Come back soon and see why. 

The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

Hosea 5:10

Todays' Prophetic Headlines

Netanyahu calls Abbas op-ed 'callous falsification of fact'

New York Man Spends Life Savings Ahead of May 21 Doomsday - FoxNews.com

Zahar: Hamas will accept Palestinian state on '67 borders

Yesha Leaders Write UN, ‘Bible Records Israel as Jewish Land’ - A7 Exclusive Features - Israel News - Israel National News

A True Witness

Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.  Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.  The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.

2 Corinthians 11:23-31

What a week!  I spent most of this week at the hospital.  When I finally found time to write on my blog the service was down.  Did I also mention that my normal internet system crashed on my computer?  I am now using a provider that I am not very familiar with.  Finally, this has been one of those weeks when the Bible theorists have me going bonkers.  Who are these theorists?  They are those people who always have a theory about what they think the Bible says even though they have no visible fruit of a believer, or they are those who make judgments about others without really understanding what they are talking about.  Ever run across one?  I have met several this week.  Having been an educator for years, I have found it is important to always stay teachable, and I have also found that the more I think I know about God and His word, the more I realize that He and His word are beyond my grasp to fully understand this side of glory.  Always stay humble and teachable!

The first theorist I ran in to was telling me how he does not need to go to church and fellowship with others.  He added that the verse that says to "forsake not the assembling of yourselves together" may not mean what it appears to mean.  Remember the fruit thing?  Make sure that if you think like this that you have the fruit of the Spirit visible in your life.  How can you develop in these graces if you are shut off from others? 

The next genius that I ran into told me that Jesus was not the only way to heaven.  He faithfully attends church as a means of being a better person, and that Jesus came to better mankind by giving a good set of rules to live by.  Howbeit, if you are a good Muslim or Hindu (despite Jesus' own testimony that He is the only way) you will make it to heaven.  Be careful of this brand of heretic!  There seems to be more and more of them nowadays.  What they don't seem to understand is that the truths of God have to be outside of their own frameworks and making.  It is not their "truth" that counts but His.  God is an immutable God therefore His truth is just as immutable.  It changes you not vice versa!  You can't make His word say what you wish, but you take it as it is or you don't take it at all. 

The last one made me very angry!  He was one of those prosperity people that seemed to believe that those suffering overseas were doing so because of a lack of faith in the power of God to give them an abundant life.  He went on and on about how you should prosper as your soul prospers and how you should never have a pain not immediately healed or care not immediately met here in this world.  Tell that to thousands of Chinese Christians who work underground sharing the message of the cross--a message that has some suffering at the very core!  Tell that to the Egyptian Christians who are being shot or raped in the streets.  Tell that to the martyrs and saints in various countries around the world who share the message while shedding their blood.  Tell that to Paul!  He suffered severely for the testimony of Jesus Christ.  His abundance was in God's power operating in his life to do a work for heaven and not in the abundance of this world's trash.  Didn't Jesus say something about laying up treasures in places where moth and dust can't corrupt and thieves can't break through and steal?

Jesus and Paul were rescuers.  They both understood that sharing truth to those drowning in sin sometimes is risky just as saving one from drowning in the sea is risky.  Yet, Jesus saw us worth the risk for some gracious reason I have yet to find (don't you ever wonder who you were that He would love you enough to die for you on the cross?) and Paul saw the message of Jesus Christ as worth the risk of forsaking all to share!  I wish I could dwell here some more, but I don't have the space.  Take a few hours and prayerfully read 1 & 2 Corinthians and compile a list of things that this apostle laid aside for the furtherance of the gospel.   The souls of men, women, and children were of much more value to Him than the trinkets of this current age!  While you are reading that I guess I need to go back and prayerfully read through Galatians 5 again.  I also need to talk to Him about the fruit of patience again!  (Insert smile here).  It seems that this trying week has reminded me of just how much I need Jesus always!  God Bless